


The Daughter of Hecate

by Frostfire613



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Crossover, Evil Ethan, F/M, Female Harry, Gen, Good Luke, Lemon warnings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-09-12
Updated: 2013-09-20
Packaged: 2017-12-26 10:11:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 37
Words: 124,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/964733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Frostfire613/pseuds/Frostfire613
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the war, Vitani Potter finds out that she's the daughter of the Goddess of Witchcraft and Magic, Hecate. Hecate directs her to Camp Half-Blood where she meets other demigods like her. Join her as she makes new friends, goes on new adventures, and falls in love. Fem!Harry x Luke Castellan. Percy x Annabeth. Slight onesided Percy/Fem!Harry. Good Luke. Evil Ethan. Powerful and MoD Fem!Harry. NO FLAMES! </p>
<p>This is also posted on Fanfiction.net, but I thought it would be fine to post it on Archive of our own too.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author Note:** Okay, I started reading Percy Jackson Fanfiction after I watched the new Percy Jackson movie, the Sea of Monsters. They changed everything in that movie by the way, except for the basic key points.

So anyways, my favorite character in Percy Jackson is Luke Castellan. I always have a thing for hot villians, even better when they are redeemable. TO which Luke fit that description perfectly! But imagine my surprise when I searched for some Luke fics, mainly Luke x Percy/Fem!Percy, to see that there aren't many at all! It confused me to no end because I thought that Luke was the kind of character most girls would like. He's a bad boy type, he's hot, he's strong, and he redeems himself in the end. I just don't get it, and when I searched up Percy Jackson/Harry Potter crossovers, I was very disappointed to see that there are not many fictions where Harry goes to camp half-blood. In fact, a lot of them involve either Percy going to Hogwarts (which I wasn't looking for at the time) or Nico going to Hogwarts.

So I wrote this. Just a heads up, there are LEMON alerts for those who don't like reading lemons, so you can skip them.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or Percy Jackson. If I did, Percy would be a girl and end up with Luke, same with Harry and Tom Riddle.**

**Read and Comment! NO FLAMES!**

* * *

When the war was over, many expected Vitani Potter, the Chosen One, the One-Who-Conquered, the Girl-Who-Lived, to become an Auror. But Vitani instead became a very talented Curse Breaker and Warder, free lancing for Gringotts despite the fact that she had enough money to live lavishly for centuries without working a single day. The youngest to receive a mastery in Ancient Runes and Defence.

She soon found out that Lily Potter was not her only birth mother, much to her shock. Lily had been unable to have children, an effect caused by a curse when she battled for the Order of the Phoenix. However, James and Lily still wanted a child no matter what, and ended up praying to Hecate, the Greek Goddess of Witchcraft, Magic, Trivial Knowledge, Necromancy, and Crossroads, and one of the original holders of magic (all wizards were either legacies of Hecate, or other goddesses of magic), for a child after several rituals had failed.

Hecate had answered their prayers, and personally blessed Lily with a child. She had warned the two however, that despite the circumstances, that their child would be a demigod, and would be hunted by monsters.

They took the risk anyways, and though Vitani was born from the features of her two parents, she had a much higher magical power that could only come from being a daughter of Hecate. But because of the circumstances of her birth, she didn't have dyslexia, but she could still read Ancient Greek.

Hecate had come to Vitani as soon as the war was over, and told her everything. Though Vitani was understandably upset, she was happy that her parents had went through such lengths to have her. It also explained how she was able to do some wandless magic, something she would have to practice after relying on a wand for so long, and why she was such a danger magnet. Her ADHD was explained as well, though fortunately she didn't have Dyslexia.

Hecate had also admitted that Vitani was her favourite child since she was so Heroic and Self Sacrificing, though she was her only child that was alive currently. She then gifted her with a very powerful deck of cards called the Clow Cards, created by her now deceased but favourite son, Clow Reed. She had taken them upon his death. Hecate afterwards, had gifted her with a special wand that would allow her to activated the cards easier until she was able to activate them without the wand.

The was looked like a rather short staff, about 2 feet long with a ring on the top. Inside the ring was a very beautiful crystal star that sparkled and shined in the light. The ring itself was winged with white wings, and the butt end of the staff held a smaller crystal. The staff itself was black as night. (Imagine Cardcaptor Sakura's wand, with it being black with a crystal star instead of being pink with a gold star).

Vitani was happy to find out that the wand Hecate had given her was able to work like her Holly wand, so it was a back up along with the Elder Wand. The staff took the form of a key that hung around her neck when she wasn't using it.

Hecate then told her to go to a place for Demigods like herself, Camp Halfblood, which was located on Long Island Sound, New York, USA. She had told her that she had already made lodgings and preparations for her to stay there.

Excited to meet those like her, Vitani quickly packed her things in an enchanted trunk before telling Ron and Hermione where she was going after telling them about the Demigods.

With both of her friends promising to write often, Vitani went on her way.

* * *

Though locating the Camp was easy, getting there was not. As soon as she was dropped off, quite a few monsters had attacked her as she hiked through the forest.

She was currently being chased by a couple of Hellhounds, occasionally glancing over her shoulder to check where they were.

"Sectumsempra!" Vitani cried out, waving her wand over her shoulder as she ran.

She heard a cry of pain, which meant she at least hit one of the hounds.

Vitani turned around for a brief moment before giving another flick of her wand, banishing one of the hounds to a nearby tree, toppling the tree over.

"Incarcerous!"

A strong rope then bound the second hound, giving Vitani enough time to run ahead.

Soon however, the injured hellhounds ran after her once more.

"Confringo!"

One of the hounds explode and burst into flame before it turned into a gold dust. Vitani repeated the spell and the second one disappeared into gold dust as well, making Vitani sigh in relief.

She then hurried, she didn't want even more monsters to come after her, she never saw the cloaks of fur that were left behind. This was the third batch of monsters she killed today. Hopefully she was near the camp.

* * *

The Campers of Camp Halfblood paused as they heard multiple explosions nearby, along with a lot of crashing noises.

Those who were nearby the borders, immediately went to check out the noise.

Just at the bottom of the hill was a girl, a very beautiful girl, running while waving a stick at the monsters. Though some of the campers were prepared to step in and help, Luke stopped them and signalled them to watch.

"Immobulus!" The girl cried out, freezing the trio of Black Scorpions that were chasing her. "Duro! Bombarda!"

To the campers' amazement, the Black Scorpions transformed into stone before being shattered into gold dust, living a bunch of feathers behind.

The girl then trudged up the hill, stopping in front of the group of campers who eyed her.

"Please tell me that this is Camp Halfblood." The girl panted.

Luke stepped forward.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Vitani Potter, and I'm the daughter of Hecate." Right after the girl said this, a glowing symbol of a crescent moon and a star appeared above her head, giving them proof of her claims.

"Another Demigod then, that would explain how Hecate's cabin just popped out of nowhere." Luke said. "Alright, I'll bring you to Mr. D and Chiron."

"Thank you." Vitani said gratefully.

Luke eyed her with intrigue, despite being a child of a minor goddess, she attracted quite a few monsters. It meant that she was a powerful demigod. Not to mention she had an attractive British accent.

* * *

After Chiron and Mr. D had given her the okay, Luke was assigned to show her around the camp. One of the sons from the Ares cabin tried to 'initiate' her, but Luke stood firm and sent him away. Their last stop was Hecate's cabin. It looked like a small white Manor.

Inside was everything she could ever need or want. It was large and had a bathroom with a big tub and all the toiletries she would need, a stocked kitchen, a potion's lab, a large bookshelf, a 50 inch flat screen TV with game consoles and a DVD player, a comfy couch with love seats surrounding it, a golden perch for Hedwig, a desk, a small fountain with a permanent rainbow with a medium sized vase filled to the brim with golden Drachma, a laundry room, a bedroom with a four poster king sized bed with emerald sheets and curtains, a bedside table, a vanity stocked with beauty products that she knew she would probably never use, a large closet, and a tall 7 foot mirror.

"Wow, this place is amazing!" Luke said, walking around her cabin (more like mini mansion) with awe. "I wish my cabin was spacious like this..."

"Thanks for showing me around." Vitani smiled, filing his last comment for later.

"No problem, feel free to come find me if you need anything." Luke said kindly.

He then left Vitani to her devices. As soon as he left, Hedwig flew in from the window and landed on her new perch.

Vitani then enlarged her trunk that she had kept in her pocket and with a wave of her wand, all her belongings flew to their proper places.

"So this is it huh..." Vitani said with a wistful smile.

* * *

When it was dinner time, everyone stared at Vitani as she ate alone at her table. She had sacrificed two bushels of plump red grapes, one for Hestia (whom she met earlier that day), and one for Hecate.

Mr. D introduced her unenthusiastically as he usually did, calling her Vivian Potts.

Vitani didn't really care, as Luke had told her that Mr. D was here on punishment for a century because he went after a nymph his father, Zeus, had placed off limits.

After dinner was over, Luke walked over to Vitani with a girl with princess blonde curls in tow.

"Hey Vitani, I want to introduce you to someone. Vitani, this is Annabeth." Luke said.

Vitani smiled and held out her hand, Annabeth smiled back as she shook it.

"It's nice to meet you Annabeth, who is your godly parent?" Vitani asked curiously, already knowing that Luke was the son of Hermes, though he didn't seem to like it.

"I'm the daughter of Athena." Annabeth said proudly.

"Ah! The Goddess of Wisdom and Battle, you must be really smart then." Vitani said.

"Thanks." Annabeth said, smiling shyly.

"You would get along well with one of my best friends, she's really smart too. She studies almost all the time and it's rare that you ever catch her without a book in her hands." Vitani said.

"Really?" Annabeth asked curiously.

"Mhmm!" Vitani nodded.

"What's it like being able to cast spells?" Annabeth asked excitedly. "Can you show me one?"

"It's awesome being able to cast spells, and sure I can show you one." Vitani said as she took out her wand. With a flick of her wand, she turned her goblet into a fluffy rabbit.

"Wow!" Annabeth said, amazed.

"That's pretty cool!" Luke said, petting the rabbit.

"Thanks." Vitani grinned before turning the rabbit back into her goblet.

"What else can you do?" Luke asked. "Can you brew potions?"

"Of course I can! Most potions are for healing purposes, but there are other ones too. An example would be Felix Felicis, also known as Liquid Luck. A magical potion that makes the taker successful in all their endeavours, well, at least until the effects wear off." Vitani said.

"Amazing... that would be incredibly useful on a quest." Luke commented.

"Well... It's meant to be used sparingly, however, as it causes giddiness, recklessness, dangerous overconfidence if taken in excess, and it's highly toxic in large quantities. Not to mention it takes 6 months to brew, disastrous should you get it wrong." Vitani said.

"I knew it, a potion like that wouldn't come without consequences!" Annabeth said, smirking.

"Six months?!" Luke said, stunned.

"How much would you need to drink to lets say... have a perfectly lucky day?" Annabeth asked.

"Hmm... two tablespoons at breakfast for twelve hours of luck." Vitani answered.

"That's cool!" Luke said, thinking of what he could do with such a potion.

"Anyways, it's nice meeting you Annabeth, but I gotta go talk to Chiron about something. Feel free to drop by my cabin when you're free." Vitani said before leaving.

* * *

The next day after sword training, Luke headed back to his cabin to get a change of clothes.

When he entered however, he gasped in shock as the whole interior of the cabin was completely changed. Instead of an overly crowded cabin he expected to see, he saw a very spacious living room instead. Luke rubbed his eyes, not entirely believing what he saw. When he reopened his eyes however, the sight was still there.

"Maybe I'm in the wrong Cabin...?"

Luke stepped out, only to see that he was indeed standing in front of Cabin 11, it was still worn looking as ever. When he walked back inside the cabin, he still couldn't quite believe what he was seeing.

"Okay, how is it possible that it's way bigger on the inside than the outside?!" Luke exclaimed, frustrated.

He soon decided it was best not to question it.

Along the right and left walls were a row of doors, each with a name tag. Ones on the left he recognized those who were his half brothers' and sisters', and on the right were those who were unclaimed.

In the middle was a comfy looking living room with scattered beanbag chairs, love seats, and a couple couches surrounding a coffee table. At the back were the boy's and girl's washrooms.

He looked into the bedrooms next, each child of Hermes received their own room. They contained a four poster queen sized bed with white sheets and curtains, a dresser, a tall mirror, a bedside table with a lamp, a small desk, a tall corner shelf, a laundry basket, and a cushioned chest at the ends of their bed. He looked inside his dresser, only to see all of his clothes already there.

He checked the rooms for those who were unclaimed by their godly parent afterwards. Their rooms were smaller, but still very nice and much better than sleeping on the floor. They each contained a four poster single bed with white sheets and curtains, a bedside table with a lamp, a dresser, a tall corner shelf, a laundry basket, and a mirror.

He then checked the bathrooms, and saw that they were simple. There were a row of shower stalls and bathroom stalls, along with a row of sinks. He assumed that they were the same for the girl's washroom as well.

His self tour ended in the living room, where he saw Vitani standing at the centre of, looking proud.

"Do you like it?" Vitani asked.

"Y-You mean, you did this?" Luke asked, stunned.

"Yep! I got permission from Chiron and Mr. D. I heard that your cabin was over crowded so I remodelled it. Do you like it?"

"Like it...? I love it!" Luke said, giving the girl a big hug which made her blush faintly. He soon let go. "How did you do it?"

"Magic of course!" Vitani said, smirking as she pulled out her wand, though she used the Elder wand to make the effects stronger and inscribed runes to make it permanent.

"Thank you so much, it's nice to have space!" Luke said.

By dinner time, everyone had heard about the Hermes' cabin remodelling, with all the occupants thanking Vitani profusely. Hermes himself even left a gift on her bed as a thank you. The package contained a 3 bottles of Hermes' Multivitamins, a small pouch containing 40 Golden Drachma, and a thank you note.

Annabeth also stopped by to give her thanks after dinner, knowing what Vitani did meant a lot to Luke.

* * *

The next morning, the whole of Cabin 11 was in a very good mood, and Luke partnered up with Vitani to help and teach her swordsmanship. She was decent at best, mostly because her only experience with a sword was extended to fighting a basilisk when she was 12. Luke made her best look dirt poor, but she was amazed by his skill.

She was decent with a bow as well, but excelled with it came to riding the Pegasi and running with the wood nymphs (though they were still much faster than her, leaving her in the dust, centuries of running away from lovesick gods made for good practice). She was good at getting through the climbing wall (mainly because she was very good at dodging), mediocre at wrestling unless she used wandless magic, decent in arts and crafts, decent at canoeing, and was good at learning ancient Greek.

Soon however, it was Capture the Flag, and Vitani had sided with the Athena, Apollo, and Hermes cabin, with the rest of the cabins on the opposite side siding with the Ares cabin.

Chiron galloped forward and stomped his hoof loudly. "Heroes!" he announced. "You know the rules. The creek is the boundary line. The entire forest is fair game. All magical items are allowed. The banner must be prominently displayed. Prisoners may be disarmed, but may not be bound or gagged; no killing or maiming is allowed, is that understood?" Everyone nodded their agreement. "I will serve as a referee and battlefield medic. Arm yourselves and good luck!"

Vitani was assigned to guard the Flag.

She didn't have to wait long for 5 campers of the opposing team to show up, all of them were from Ares' cabin.

She readied her wand, and instantly fired a banishing spell to expel the two closest campers away.

"Everte Statum!" Another was sent flying. "Expelliarmus!"

The swords the last two were wielding suddenly flew from their hands and landed some distance away.

The two were furious and charged at her with their fists raised.

"Petrificus Totalus! Levicorpus!"

One of the Ares camper's arms suddenly snapped to his sides before falling over, straight as a board and unable to move. The second one was suddenly hung in midair by her ankle.

"Put me down!" The girl she knew as Clarisse La Rue demanded.

"Sorry Clarisse." Vitani grimaced. The two were on fairly decent terms, but they weren't exactly friends.

She soon heard the cheers of her allies as they came into view, Luke holding the red flag high.

Annabeth soon came into view as well, looking pleased at the sight she was rewarded with, 4 Ares sons unconscious with Clarisse still hanging in the air, cursing all the while.

"Good job, I knew I could count on you." Annabeth said, smiling.

Luke grinned as well as he was carried on his brothers' shoulders, flag in hand.

There was a small celebration that night, Luke had invited Vitani to eat with him at the now extended Hermes table. She, of course, accepted as she didn't like to eat alone all the time. All the while, the entire Ares table glared at Vitani.

Soon the weeks she stayed at camp, turned into months. She steadily got closer to Annabeth and Luke, especially Luke. They just seemed to click.

She still occasionally left the camp to do her job, something that Annabeth was jealous of because she wanted to go out into the world as well. Annabeth at first wanted to go with Vitani when she did her curse breaking jobs, but Chiron didn't allow it. To cheer her up, Vitani brought her and Luke back souvenirs which ranged from sweets to parts of magical creatures.

Vitani also apologized to Clarisse for hanging her upside down during capture the flag, they had made a tentative friendship after that when she had asked the daughter of Ares to help her improve her wrestling. In return, Vitani would provide Clarisse with bruise and wound healing salves whenever she needed them.


	2. Chapter 2

"Welcome back!" Luke said, smiling brightly. His boyishly handsome features seemed to light up, the scar on his face didn't seem to affect this fact, it gave him an intimidating sexy look if anything.

"Thanks." Vitani smiled, just getting back from Egypt from another curse breaking job.

Luke gave Vitani a warm hug before taking her hand gently into his own. Vitani blushed slightly but didn't protest, instead giving Luke's larger hand a small squeeze, which he smiled at.

As the two walked through the camp hand in hand towards Hecate's cabin. The campers whispered and smiled at them knowingly as they passed.

It was known to everyone except the girl of his affections that Luke completely infatuated with Vitani (and vise versa), and everyone was waiting inevitably for when they would get together.

"So anything new happening while I was gone?" Vitani asked.

"Well, the 4th of July fireworks show is coming up." Luke said once they reached her cabin.

He watched as she set her satchel bag onto her couch, pulling out a box of dried dates.

"Here you go." Vitani said, handing the box over.

"Thanks." Luke smiled, opening the box and popping one of the dates into his mouth, being mindful of the pit.

"So the 4th of July fireworks huh, isn't that considered the most romantic event of the year here?" Vitani asked as she pulled out a carton of apple cider from her fridge, pouring herself and Luke a glass.

"Yeah...well...I..." Luke said, stuttering nervously.

"Yeah?" Vitani asked, cocking her head to one side.

"I want you to go with me... as my date..." Luke said, steeling himself.

Vitani blushed but smiled. "Yes, I would love you go with you as your date."

Luke let out a sigh of relief.

Vitani gave him a bright smile before she stood on her toes and kissed his cheek. She then giggled at Luke's goofy love stuck expression.

* * *

When Luke came out of Vitani's cabin with a dazed love stuck expression on his face while touching his cheek, the girls and boys from the Aphrodite cabin instantly connected the dots. The girls squealed then gossiped while the boys spread the word.

There was quite a bit of disappointment however, as Luke was an extremely popular, tall, very handsome young man whom all the girls liked, with short-cropped sandy blonde hair, sky blue eyes, an athletic and muscular build, and had a sneaky look he shared with all Hermes demigod children in the camp. That wasn't to say that Vitani wasn't popular as well. She was beautiful, as beautiful as those from the Aphrodite cabin, with her long dark hair that fell in soft waves, her gorgeous green eyes, a lithe athletic build, and gentle expression. She was popular with the boys, but Luke had staked his claim early on. The two now had become the hottest couple in camp.

By dinner time, everyone knew that Vitani and Luke were going out.

* * *

Soon the days passed and it was finally the time for the 4th of July fireworks show. Vitani and Luke chose to sit on a picnic blanket near the beach, well away from everyone else. Vitani had also put up some spells for extra privacy to prevent unexpected eavesdroppers or spectators.

Luke even felt bold enough to wrap his arms around Vitani's slim waist from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder as they sat and watched the fireworks in the sky.

"You know, when I came here I thought I would never have time for romance because of training and questing. Before that it was surviving on the streets with monsters around every corner." Luke said. "Not to mention Thalia's death was hard on both Annabeth and I. I thought that if we survived long enough that either Thalia or Annabeth would become my future wife. But that thought was put to an end with Thalia being turned into the Pine Tree that protects our camp and Annabeth is like a little sister to me. I'll admit that I had a crush on Thalia when I was younger. Actually, we had crushes on each other. But we decided not to act on our feelings until we were safe. Also, I do know about Annabeth's crush on me, I just hoped that if I ignored them long enough, her feelings would either dissipate or she would fall for someone else. But then you came... then I felt that it was time for me to move on."

Vitani stayed silent, but one of her hands took hold of his own, interlocking their fingers.

"You intrigued me, you look so fragile, but your eyes... they know pain." Luke said. "The more time I spent with you, the more captivated I became. And before I knew it... I fell deeply for you. In time, I truly think I could fall in love with you."

Vitani's eyes sparkled with unshed tears. "Thank you."

Luke watched as Vitani took a few deep breaths, as if to steel herself for something.

"When I growing up, I didn't have the best of childhoods. I was basically raised as a servant, learning to cook and clean before I could even read, and living in a cupboard under the stairs. My Aunt and Uncle knew about my magic, and they loathed me for it. They wanted to be normal, and they didn't hold back on telling me how much they wished I didn't exist. Heck, I didn't even know my name until first grade, when the teacher called my name for the first time. My Aunt and Uncle just called me You girl, or Freak. Their son wasn't much better, a fat bullying pig he was, could barely count past 40 by the time he was 10."

Luke said nothing, but hugged her tighter. Vitani rarely talked about her childhood, so he didn't want to ruin her talking mood.

"When my friend, Hagrid, a man who was half giant and the Gamekeeper of Hogwarts, told me that I was a witch... at first I couldn't believe it, but it did explain the weird things that happened to me. Hagrid then took me shopping, and bought me my first friend and pet, Hedwig. After that I got my wand... Holly wood with a phoenix feather core. But there was something about that wand that saved my life a few times."

"What was that?"

"The phoenix that gave the feather for my wand core gave another feather, just one other. It was ironic that I was destined for my Holly wand, when its brother, gave me the scar that made me famous."

Vitani brushed her bangs away to let Luke see the lightning bolt scar on her forehead.

"Who?"

"Voldemort." Vitani replied. "Voldemort was one of the darkest and most malicious wizards who had ever lived, he became so feared that no one would speak his name anymore. They referred him as You-know-who or Who-must-not-be-named. The times my parents lived in were dark times, Voldemort gathered a lot of followers, called Death Eaters, who believed Wizards should rule the world. This army began a campaign of terror and violence never before seen in Britain. He soon heard of a prophecy, it told of someone who would be able to vanquish him. Of course, the only thing that Voldemort feared more than anything else was death, so he sought out the chosen one. Thanks to a certain traitor and spy, he found my parents, and ultimately, me, as I fit the description the most, according to him anyways. He killed my dad first, then my mum, who gave her life to protect mine. When he pointed his wand at me however, and cast the killing curse, it somehow rebounded and hit him instead. He was vanquished when the spell hit him, and I became known as the Girl-Who-Lived, the saviour of the Wizarding World. It was fame that I never wanted."

Luke pulled Vitani closer to him.

"Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry became my home. Within it were 4 houses, named after the school's founders and their characteristics. There was Slytherin, the house for the cunning and ambitious, Gryffindor for the brave and chivalrous, Hufflepuff for the loyal and hardworking, and Ravenclaw for witty and wise."

"Which one were you?" Luke asked, his lips were quirked up in a smile.

"The sorting hat, which is a sentient magical Hogwarts artifact whose job is to sort new students into their proper houses, originally wanted to put me in Slytherin."

"What's wrong with Slytherin?" Luke asked.

"Well, a lot of dark wizards that are known came from the house of Slytherin, which everyone considers a dark house. Of course, I know that's just stupid prejudice talking, as all the other houses have produced plenty of dark wizards themselves, it's just Slytherin who produced the most and the well known ones. So being highly impressionable as I was at that age and add to the fact of how badly I wanted to fit in with everyone else, I told the hat to put me in any house other than Slytherin."

"What house did you get into?" Luke asked.

Vitani smiled. "Gryffindor, the house my parents were in."

Vitani then proceeded to tell her about her school life, the adventures she had and the numerous amount of times she nearly died if it wasn't for luck.

Luke listened intently, he bristled in anger when she told him about Umbridge and her blood quills, and when she showed him the scar on her hand.

_'I must not tell lies'._

Luke felt vindicated however when she told him about her being taken by the centaurs. Who had done who knows what to her to make her deathly afraid of them, to the point where she jumped in fright when she heard galloping hooves.

Soon he heard about her sixth year and her hunt for horcruxes, and wasn't the least bit surprised that at least one person out there would be willing to go so far for a cheap brand of immortality.

When she finished, Luke stayed silent for a moment before letting out a breath.

"Wow."

"I'm actually surprised it's been pretty normal for me so far since I got here." Vitani said smiling at the starry sky. "You know..."

"Hmm?"

"I wonder what would've happened if there was someone who loved Tom, maybe he wouldn't have gone down the path he went on if there was someone he truly loved. Tom could've changed the world for the better. He was exceedingly handsome, intelligent, charismatic, powerful... I truly believe he could've done anything. Well, I guess there's no use thinking on the what ifs in the universe, or we'd be here for a long time." Vitani said.

"You talk about Tom fondly..." Luke said, feeling a pang of jealously.

"I never told anyone this but... when I talked to Tom through his diary, he understood me. He knew what it felt like to be hated for what we were. To be honest, he was my first crush. And he adored me as much as I adored him. When I was about to kill him, he smiled at me, as if he accepted his fate. He told me that if he could ever feel love, he felt that he could grow to truly love me, if given the time, and hoped that we would meet in another life." Vitani said, smiling sadly. "I hope Tom is happy in the afterlife, or maybe he went on to being reborn. Voldemort however, is probably either in the fields of punishment or even in Tartarus..."

(Tom Riddle is one half of the soul, while Voldemort is the other.)

"Hmm." Luke said nothing, feeling the jealousy ease out of him. If he was going to date Vitani, he was going to have to accept the fact that Tom Riddle had a piece of her heart, and would always will. But that didn't mean that there wasn't room for him, and he had heard from one of the Aphrodite girls that the first love could never be forgotten and would always be special. Just like how he could never forget Thalia, and she would always have a piece of his own heart.

"Thank you, Vitani, for sharing that with me." Luke said sincerely.

"You know Luke, I know you resent the gods... and you have a good reason to. The Gods are unfair, but you know, life is unfair. All we can do is make the best of it." Vitani said, turning to face Luke fully. "Just... don't let your hatred consume you. I don't want you to become another Tom Riddle, only to regret it in the end."

Luke looked at her, her beautiful green eyes were glistening with tears.

"I promise." Luke said, pulling Vitani in for a hug.

When Luke let her go, Vitani just smiled before pressing her lips to his. Luke gave a slight jolt of surprise before returning the kiss eagerly.

The two continued to kiss passionately for several moments before pausing for air.

"Does this mean you're my girlfriend?" Luke asked, dazed as he panted slightly.

Vitani just laughed before pulling Luke in for another kiss.


	3. Chapter 3

Vitani smiled as she fingered the charm bracelet Luke had gotten for her for her birthday. So far, it held an Owl charm (from Annabeth), a strawberry charm (from Grover), a winged shoe, a broomstick, a firework rocket, and a star charm.

But now it was Luke's birthday, November 18th. And Vitani had a big day planned for him, she was going to take him to see Diagon Ally for the first time.

As soon as she reached the Hermes Cabin, she knocked on the door.

Travis Stoll was the one to answer. "Hey Vitani, looking for Luke?"

"Yeah, is he here?" Vitani asked.

"Yeah, in his room. What are you giving him for his birthday? We already gave him his birthday punches by the way." Travis smirked.

Vitani rolled her eyes. "You didn't turn him black and blue did you?"

"Nah, Luke is way tougher than that." Connor said, popping into the conversation.

"Of course, now if you'll excuse me..." Vitani said, slipping past the twins.

"By your leave, Princess." Travis teased before they joined some of their brothers in the living room, playing card games.

Vitani knocked on Luke's bedroom door.

"Come in!"

Inside, she saw Luke in the middle of dressing, as he was just about to put on his white button up shirt.

"Good morning, Princess." Luke grinned, walking over to give her a kiss.

Vitani smiled into the kiss before it was broken. "Good morning to you too, birthday boy. How does it feel to be 19 years old?"

"Pretty good." Luke smiled before it turned slightly bitter. "Dad even gave me a present... a new sword. I call it Backbiter."

"That's good." Vitani said, smiling as she ogled Luke's delicious abs and strong back.

"He also gave me something else... These coins. They're real gold as far as I can tell, but they aren't Drachma..."

"Can I see?" Vitani asked.

"Sure." Luke said, handing her a sack.

She opened the sack and widened her eyes. Gold Galleons. Hermes had given Luke a sack full of galleons. She guessed that he somehow knew that Luke was going to need them today.

"Galleons."

"Hmm?"

"They're Galleons, remember when I told you about the Wizarding world?"

"Oh! Why would my dad give me a sack full of galleons? I'm not a wizard."

"Actually, it's a good thing he gave them to you, and there seems to be quite a bit in here. Maybe around 50 or so Galleons? That'll get you a lot where we're going. And I guarantee you'll want to use them today!"

"You mean...?" Luke turned to her with a growing smile on his face as he shrugged on a thin black jacket.

"Yep, I'm taking you to Diagon Alley for your birthday! You've been wanting to go for a while, and today is the perfect day to go."

"How are we going to get there?" Luke asked, excited.

"Portkey."

"Port-what?"

* * *

"My back hurts."

"Sorry, should've warned you that first timers usually have rough landings. I usually apparate, but I was afraid that you might lose your lunch afterwards."

"Apparate?"

"The wizard method of teleportation. It feels like you're being squeezed through a small tube, and most people get nauseous and vomit the first few times."

"Oh. Where are we?"

Vitani grinned. "The Leaky Cauldron in London."

Luke squinted at the sign that suddenly came into view. "How come I didn't notice it before."

"Most people would just see a run down shop, unless you're a wizard or you're specifically looking for it. It's to prevent muggles—non magical folk—from finding the place, as it's also the entrance to Diagon Alley." Vitani said before taking out her wand and tapping both Luke and herself with it.

"What did you do?"

"I put a spell on us that prevents others from noticing us. As you know, I'm famous here and don't want to be mobbed by either reporters or fans while I'm here." Vitani said.

"Good thinking." Luke nodded and took Vitani's hand into his own.

The couple walked in and slipped through the crowed before going to the back of the pub, where Vitani tapped the bricks in the correct order with her wand.

Luke widened his eyes as the bricks moved away to reveal a bustling alley full of people wearing robes and wizard hats.

"Luke, welcome to Diagon Alley!"

* * *

"Okay, so go over again the wizarding currency..."

"There's 29 knuts, the bronze coins, to a sickle, the silver coins, and 17 sickles to a Galleon. One galleon is about 5 British pounds, or about 7 dollars US. This is just to make our currency affordable to muggle-borns, wizards who have normal non magical parents." Vitani explained patiently.

"Got it, so where to first?" Luke asked, taking in all the magical shops with child-like wonder.

"How about the Magical Menagerie? You can buy a pet there." Vitani suggested. "Mr. D gave the okay as long as he didn't have to deal with it."

"A pet? Sure, why not? I've never had a pet before." Luke said after some consideration.

The two walked into the shop, and Luke studied each animal carefully before stopping on a black lion-like cat with glowing green eyes. The cat seemed to like him as it came pawing at its cage, trying to get to Luke.

"Wow, a black Kneazle, and it really likes you." Vitani said amazed.

"What's special about a Kneazle?" Luke asked.

"Well, they have a very high level of intelligence, are independent and occasionally aggressive, and have an uncanny ability to detect suspicious and distrustful people. They can also safely guide their owner home. They can follow orders too. My godfather once asked my friend's half Kneazle cat, Crookshanks, to get a sheet of passwords for him from our Gryffindor dorm, and Crookshanks absolutely hated Scabbers, he chased him around all the time."

"Scabbers is Peter Pettigrew right? The man who betrayed your parents." Luke said quietly.

"Yeah... So anyways, a Kneazle would make a great pet for you." Vitani said.

"Hmm...alright. They're independent right? Like Hedwig?"

"Yeah, the cat would just probably wander around the camp, chasing rats and mice. He'll make for nice company though." Vitani said.

"Good! Alright, I'll get him." Luke said, plucking the cat's cage off the shelf and taking him to the register.

The worker also got Luke the basic necessities, such as a large bag of cat food, a food dish, a collar and a fish shaped tag, a brush, cat shampoo, a box of kneazle treats, and a booklet on how to care for the Kneazle. Vitani paid 30 galleons for everything, and told Luke that she could owl order extra supplies if he ran out.

"Your name shall be Loki, after the Norse God of Mischief." Luke grinned.

The cat meowed in acceptance and purred.

* * *

They stopped at the Sweet Shop next, where they both bought plenty of Candy. Vitani mostly stuck to the ones she liked best, which was Treacle fudge, chocolate frogs, sugar free droobles best blowing gum, jelly slugs, cauldron cakes, crystallized pineapple, and Sugar quills.

Luke got some Bertie Botts every Flavour beans, and was planning to eat them with his friends as some sort of game, Sound effect jelly poppers (which made you make realistic sound effects when you ate them), chocolate frogs, and sugar quills.

After that, they hit Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, where Luke and Vitani both got Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder and Decoy Detonators. Vitani then got an entire set of Weasleys' Wildfire Whizbangs, a few bottles of the Ten-Second pimple vanisher, and a purple pygmy puff for Annabeth. Luke got himself a carton of Canary Creams and a portable swamp.

Before they left the shop however, George threatened Luke to hex him to oblivion if he ever hurt Vitani, making Luke pale slightly.

They visited Florean Fortesque's Ice Cream Parlour next, and their last stop was the Quidditch Shop, where Luke got a good look at all the brooms on sale, including the Firebolt Broom.

Vitani had bought another Firebolt Broom too, just in case the one she had broke somehow.

When it was time to go home, they used another portkey to head back to Thalia's tree.

* * *

Annabeth was pleased with the purple Pygmy Puff Vitani had gotten for her and named her Twilight. Twilight normally rode on Annabeth's shoulder, or would be sleeping in a shoebox with a cotton ball nest Annabeth made for her that sat on Annabeth's bedside table.

Loki mostly walked around the camp, chasing mice and rats. The Kneazle however seemed to dislike an unclaimed boy named Ethan Nakamura however, hissing whenever the boy was near, which made Luke eye him suspiciously. He remembered that Kneazles had an uncanny ability to detect suspicious and distrustful people, so he promised himself to keep an eye on the younger camper, and to make sure that Vitani would never be alone with him despite knowing that she could take care of herself.

Other than that, Loki acted like a normal cat, he occasionally begged for table scraps, rubbed himself against people's legs if he wanted attention, and disliked baths unless they was absolutely necessary. Since Loki mostly did his own thing, Vitani installed a cat flap for him on Luke's bedroom door.

Soon the months flew by, Vitani and Luke steadily got closer and she even taught Luke how to fly on a broom while Luke continued to give her extra lessons on swordsmanship, and she was getting better every day. She doubted that she could ever be better than Luke without using 'The Sword' card, which addition to turning her star wand into a sword that can cut through just about anything, the card also gains its strength from the heart of the person who wields it and gave the wielder the skills of a master swordsman.


	4. Chapter 4

Percy Jackson was in denial, there was no such thing as Gods.

Unfortunately, the proof was continuously smacking him in the face, and he had no choice but to believe.

"Hey Annabeth, who's this? I don't recall seeing him here before..." A melodious British accented voice said from behind the pair.

Annabeth and Percy turned, and Percy immediately blushed. The girl before them was one of the most beautiful girls he had ever seen, with her dark long hair that fell in soft waves, her flawless porcelain skin, her bright green eyes, and had a figure most girls would die for.

Percy snapped out of it however when Annabeth elbowed his side.

"Quit staring at her like that! She's taken!" Annabeth whispered harshly, and sounded strangely disappointed by this fact.

"Hi there, my name is Vitani Potter, daughter of Hecate, the Goddess of Witchcraft, Magic, Trivial Knowledge, Necromancy, and Crossroads. It's nice to meet you...?" Vitani held out her hand.

"M-My name is Perseus Jackson, but I prefer to be called Percy." Percy said, stuttering slightly.

"Percy then, it's good to meet you. You've stirred up quite the ruckus around here with arrival." Vitani said. "We haven't had a new camper for a while."

"Y-Yeah..."

"He's going to Cabin 11 right?" Vitani asked.

"Yup, I was going to take him there next." Annabeth said.

"Great! I'll go with you!" Vitani said, smiling brightly.

The trio walked to Cabin 11, which seemed like a normal old camp cabin, emphasis on the old. Annabeth knocked on the door, which held Hermes' symbol, the Caduceus.

The door opened and revealed a handsome boy with short-cropped sandy blond hair, sky blue eyes, athletic and muscular build, a scar that ran underneath his right eye down to his chin, and had a mischievous air to him.

"Hey Annabeth, how can I help you?" The boy asked in a friendly manner.

Annabeth blushed slightly. "Percy Jackson, meet Cabin 11."

"Regular or Undetermined?"

"Undetermined."

There was a collective groan from inside the cabin. The boy just smiled however.

"Now, now, campers. That's what we're here for. Welcome, Percy. My name is Luke Castellan, son of Hermes and Cabin Counsellor." Luke said, shaking Percy's hand briefly.

"He'll be your Cabin Counsellor for now." Annabeth said.

"For now?" Percy asked.

"You're undetermined." Luke explained patiently. "They don't know what cabin to put you in, so you're here. Cabin 11 takes all newcomers, all visitors. Naturally, we would. Hermes, our patron, is the god of travellers."

Percy nodded in understanding. "How long will I be here?"

"Good question, until you're determined." Luke said.

"And how long will that take?" Percy asked.

Percy could hear laughter from inside the Cabin in answer at his question.

"Here, I'll just show you the room you'll be staying in." Luke said, leading the way.

Percy was mystified, how could a cabin be bigger on the inside than it is on the outside?

"Thanks to my Princess' remodelling, we have much more room to house visitors. If she wasn't here, you'd probably have to sleep on the floor in a corner." Luke said, reading Percy's expression.

"Your princess?" Percy asked, confused.

Luke smirked slightly and pulled Vitani to his side, planting an affectionate kiss on her head.

"Yes, my Princess." Luke said, smiling happily. "Isn't she just perfect?"

There were several playful cat calls and hoots from the boys lounging in the living room, along with several rounds of laughter. Vitani smiled, rolling her eyes and hit Luke's chest in a playful manner. Luke just laughed it off however, kissing the top of Vitani's head once more. He held her hand as he led Percy to his room, which was at the end of the large room on the right.

That explained to Percy on who Vitani's mysterious boyfriend was, and it explained how the cabin was bigger on the inside than the outside. Magic.

"This'll be your room until you're determined." Luke said, standing in front of the door that was third last down. Luke then laid a hand on the nameplate on the door before saying, "Percy Jackson."

Percy widened his eyes as his name suddenly appeared on the nameplate.

"Now that you know where your room is, I'm going to show you the volleyball court next." Annabeth said, grabbing Percy's arm in a strong grip.

"But I've already seen it!" Percy protested.

"Just come on!" Annabeth gritted out, dragging Percy away.

Once the two were gone from the cabin, there was a short silence between Luke and Vitani as all the other campers laughed.

"What's with them?" Vitani asked.

"Dunno." Luke shrugged.

* * *

The Capture the Flag game was much more exciting than everyone thought it would be.

"Oh, Styx!" Annabeth cursed. "This is  _not_  good... I assumed that it would be Zeus..."

"Percy, watch out!" Luke shouted, the flag forgotten as a Hellhound appeared and charged at Percy.

Before the Hellhound could reach Percy however, the hound suddenly exploded and burst into flames before turning into gold dust.

Everyone looked at Vitani, who had her wand out and pointed at where the Hellhound had previously been.

Chiron trotted up next to us, a bow in his hand, his face grim.

 _"Di immortales!"_  Annabeth said. "That's a Hellhound from the Fields of Punishment. They don't... they're not supposed to..."

"Someone summoned it." Chiron said. "Someone inside the camp."

Luke ran over to Percy immediately, the banner in his hand forgotten, his moment of glory gone. Ethan hovered a ways behind him.

Clarisse yelled. "It's all Percy's fault! Percy summoned it!"

"Be quiet, child." Chiron told her.

"Percy." Annabeth said, pointing. "Um ..."

By the time Percy looked up, the sign was already fading, but he could still make out the hologram of green light, spinning and gleaming. A three-tipped spear: a trident.

"Your father." Annabeth murmured. "This is  _really_ not good."

"It is determined." Chiron announced.

All around Percy, campers started kneeling, even the Ares cabin, though they didn't look happy about it.

"My father?" Percy asked, completely bewildered.

"Poseidon." said Chiron. "Earthshaker, Stormbringer, Father of Horses. Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God."

* * *

The next morning, Percy was moved to Cabin 3, where he had it all to himself.

Percy became miserable as all the campers avoided him like a plague, he was grateful however that Vitani didn't treat him any differently, and neither did Luke. Ethan Nakamura, one of the campers he had befriended, still talked to him on an occasion, and was the only one brave enough to still practice swordsmanship with him, Luke, and Vitani.

Annabeth seemed distracted around him as well. And she kept muttering things under her breath while sneaking glances at him. "Quest... Poseidon?... Dirty Rotten... Gotta make a plan..."

When Percy was called to the Big House with Grover, Annabeth sneaked in with her Invisibility Cap she had gotten from Athena for her 12th birthday, and Vitani and Luke followed her example underneath Vitani's invisibility cloak.

Hearing about the quest, Luke and Vitani shared identical mischievous grins before hurrying off.

* * *

The day Percy, Annabeth, and Grover were about to leave for their quest to find Zeus' Master Bolt, both Luke and Vitani sneaked onto the Van that would be taking them into the City. Vitani used a sleeping charm to put Argus to sleep, and putting him in a nearby bush under a disillusion spell that would ware off long after they were gone.

Luke quickly took Argus' chauffeur uniform and put it on, with Vitani spelling it to fit him. She instead was wrapped in her invisibility cloak.

The two waited until Annabeth, Percy, and Grover were in the van before they revealed themselves.

All three of them looked like they were about to fall out of the van in shock.

"Luke?! Vitani?!" Percy nearly exclaimed, wide eyed. "What are you two doing here?!"

" _Shh!_ " Luke shushed. "I'm driving the van!"

"And I'm navigating!" Vitani grinned, holding up a map.

"I suppose you won't just be sending us off?" Annabeth sighed.

"I hope not, we need all the help we can get!" Grover muttered hopefully.

"Where's Argus?" Percy asked.

"Under a sleeping spell, he'll wake up in a few hours. Hopefully Chiron won't murder us for this." Vitani winced.

Percy snickered.

"So... where do we go?" Annabeth asked.

"Well, Princess?" Luke grinned.

"Western Long Island."

* * *

_BOOOM!_

The Furies that attacked them on the bus screeched in rage, prompting them to run into the nearby woods as the rain fell.

After the five felt like they ran a considerable distance, they slowed down.

"Three Kindly Ones, all three at once." Grover brayed, still shivering with terror.

In the meanwhile, Annabeth and Percy argued about their loss of supplies and money, while Grover kept moping about his lost aluminium cans before Luke told them to be quiet and keep moving.

"Calm down, Percy, Annabeth, Grover. Yes, most of our bags were lost on that bus, but we still have my bag." Vitani said, pointing to her small satchel bag. The three, especially Annabeth, brightened immediately.

They soon came across 'Aunty Em's Garden Gnome Emporium' on a near abandoned street.

The encounter with Medusa was a near miss, it was thanks to Vitani who still could understand and speak to snakes that they were able to get away relatively unharmed.

She had severed Medusa's head with a severing curse before the monster woman even knew what was happening.

They ended up mailing Medusa's head to Olympus, but on the bright side, they found the address to the entrance of the Underworld.

They all decided to camp in the woods that night.

The group was silent until they came upon a small clearing that Vitani seemed to approve of.

Vitani opened her satchel bag and pulled out what seemed to be a tent bag.

"How did that fit in there?" Percy asked.

"Undetectable Extension Charm, a bit tricky but my friend taught it to me." Vitani explained as Luke pulled the tent pieces out of the bag and laid them on the ground neatly. With a wave of her wand, the tent was erect.

"How are we all supposed to fit in there?" Percy asked.

"You'll see." Vitani smiled and walked into the tent with Luke right behind her.

When Percy came in last, he gaped. The Inside of the tent was like a small home. There were 3 rooms, 2 with 2 sets of comfortable looking bunk beds, and a master bedroom that held a king sized bed, a kitchen, a bathroom with a shower, and a living room with a hearth at the centre.

"I love magic." Percy said, causing giggles and laughs to erupt from Luke and Annabeth as Vitani got the fire in the hearth going.

"What about the monsters?" Annabeth asked warily.

"Don't worry, I'll put up a temporary ward to hide and keep the monsters away." Vitani said, stepping out for a moment to let the other four explore.

"Best tent ever." Percy grinned.

"Why don't all of you take a shower?" Vitani said when she stepped back in, pulling on an apron when she reached the kitchen. She then tied her hair back into a low pony tail which hung over her shoulder, giving her the image of a mother or a house wife.

"I'm going first!" Annabeth announced before rushing to the bathroom.

"Put your clothes in the basket, it's charmed to dry and clean your clothes!" Vitani called after her.

"Okay!"

Vitani then headed for the kitchen, where the fridge was fully stocked. She pulled out some ingredients including a bunch of potatoes, carrots, celery, cream, vegetable stock, bacon, flour, and butter.

"What are you making?" Luke asked, peering over her shoulder.

"Potato soup, vegetarian style because we have Grover here of course." Vitani said, nodding to Grover who smiled gratefully at her. "The bacon we can use for a topping if you guys want it."

"I can help if you want." Percy offered.

"Me too." Luke nodded.

"Okay then, Percy, can you peel the Potatoes and carrots? Luke, you can dice the veggies, please try to keep them all the same size though."

"You got it." Luke nodded and started with the celery. He pulled a knife out of the knife block and got to work after washing the celery.

Meanwhile, Percy was crouched over a trash can, peeling the potatoes and carrots before giving them to Luke to chop.

Grover decided to help out by setting the table.

Once the veggies were chopped, Vitani melted a small chunk of butter in a large pot before putting the vegetables in except the potatoes while Luke cooked the bacon. Soon Vitani added some flour, stirring it in with the vegetables before adding the cold vegetable stock to prevent lumps. She then turned up the heat a bit and let it simmer.

By this point, Annabeth was out of the shower and Percy was next.

When Luke was finished with the bacon, he let the pan sit to cool before attempting to wash it, instead deciding to watch as Vitani added the salt and pepper and tasted the half finished soup before nodding. Annabeth then added in the cubed potatoes.

When Percy was out of the showers and Luke went in for his turn, Vitani was mashing the potatoes in the soup slightly to release some potato starch to thicken the soup a bit more, but avoided mashing the potatoes completely to leave some potato chunks.

Vitani then added a bit more salt and pepper before adding a splash of cream.

When Luke was out of the showers, the soup was ready and the smell was making everyone in the tent hungry.

Soon everyone had a bowl of potato soup in front of them with a bowl of crumbled bacon at the centre of the table. Everyone except Grover added bacon to their soup and everyone dug in.

"Delicious, thank you, Vitani." Luke smiled, kissing Vitani's cheek before getting back to his meal.

"Thank you, Vitani!" Annabeth, Percy, and Grover chorused together.

Vitani smiled. "You're welcome. If anyone wants seconds, just help yourselves."

In the end, everyone had a second bowl, with Percy, Luke, and Grover each having a third, emptying the pot. Annabeth muttered something about gluttonous boys but Vitani just smiled and waved away her concerns, saying that they were growing boys. She'd only be concerned if they didn't eat enough.

After Grover and Vitani each had a shower, they all headed to bed after brushing their teeth with the spare toothbrushes Vitani had. Grover and Percy took one room with the bunk beds, while Annabeth to the other. Vitani and Luke however were sleeping together in the master bedroom, something Percy and Grover paused at before Annabeth snapped them out of it.

Vitani closed the curtains to the master bedroom and pulled off her robe, not caring nor minding that Luke was staring intently at her half naked body, never mind being half naked himself as he wore only his boxers. They had slept together in the same bed enough times to be comfortable, as Vitani frequently at nightmares which went away when Luke was with her, and vise versa, though she was still a virgin.

She then pulled on an emerald green nightie with black lace trim that went down to her mid thighs, turning to Luke who had an approving look on his face.

"Nice." Luke said, trying to burn the image before him into his mind. Vitani smiled slightly and got onto the bed before being pulled into his arms. Vitani buried her face into Luke's hairless chest, breathing deeply before he tilted her chin up and pressed his lips to hers.

Vitani soon parted her lips, giving Luke a chance to push his tongue into her mouth. The two continued to kiss heatedly, with Luke slowly lowering Vitani onto the bed. They stopped before they got to far though.

Luke smiled and pressed his lips to Vitani's forehead briefly before lowering himself beside her, pulling up the blanket to cover them both.

Vitani laid her head on the crook of Luke's neck with an arm around his torso while he wrapped one arm around her waist.

The two fell asleep within minutes.


	5. Chapter 5

Percy was the last the wake up the next morning.

"How long did I sleep?" Percy asked when Grover woke him up.

"Long enough for Vitani to cook breakfast." Annabeth replied, putting a plate of stacked pancakes onto the table.

Before Percy could put a bite into his mouth, he saw Grover holding a pink poodle.

The poodle yapped at Percy suspiciously.

"No, he's not." Grover said.

Percy blinked. "Are you ... talking to that thing?"

"That's not going to go well with said  _thing_." Annabeth said, rolling her eyes at the sea spawn's stupidity.

The poodle growled.

"This thing," Grover warned, "is our ticket west. Be nice to him."

"You can talk to animals?"

Grover ignored the question. "Percy, meet Gladiola. Gladiola, Percy."

Percy stared at Luke, Vitani, and Annabeth, figuring they'd crack up at this practical joke they were playing on him, but Annabeth looked deadly serious, Vitani was busy stacking more pancakes onto another plate, and Luke shrugged his shoulders helplessly as he helped Vitani.

"I'm not saying hello to a pink poodle." Percy said. "Forget it."

"Percy." Annabeth scowled. "Luke, Vitani, and I said hello to the poodle. You say hello to the poodle."

The poodle growled.

Percy said hello to the poodle.

Grover explained that he'd come across Gladiola in the woods and they'd struck up a conversation. The poodle had run away from a rich local family, who'd posted a $200 reward for his return. Gladiola didn't really want to go back to his family, but he was willing to if it meant helping Grover.

"How does Gladiola know about the reward?" Percy asked.

"He read the signs." Grover said. "Duh."

"Of course." Percy said sarcastically. "Silly me."

"So we turn in Gladiola," Annabeth explained in her best strategy voice, "we get money, and we buy tickets to Los Angeles. Simple."

"Not another bus..." Percy said warily.

"No," Annabeth agreed. "There's an Amtrak station half a mile away. According to Gladiola, the west bound train leaves at noon."

Luke smirked. "One step closer to the Underworld." He said with a dark glint in his eyes.

* * *

The group spent 2 days on the Amtrak, the money they had gotten from returning Gladiola was only enough to get to Denver. On the Amtrak, they all found out that it was Annabeth's dream to be an Architect and build something that'll last a thousand years. When the Amtrak pulled up for a brief stop, Annabeth didn't want to miss the chance to see the Gateway Arch.

While Percy and Grover agreed to go up with Annabeth, Luke and Vitani decided to go on a small date. They all agreed to meet back at the station in 3 hours, half and hour before the Amtrak left for Denver.

* * *

"Where are they? The Amtrak is about to leave." Vitani said, shifting nervously.

"There they are!" Luke said, pointing to the trio who ran towards them.

"Go go go!" Annabeth shrieked as they jumped onto the Amtrak just before it left.

Luke and Vitani allowed the three to catch their breath before they demanded an explanation.

"Echidna and her Chimera." Percy said.

"Not to mention we were nearly seen by the cops!" Annabeth sighed.

When they arrived at Denver they decided to Iris-message Chiron, but ended up getting Ethan instead. He had informed them that word had gotten out about Zeus' master bolt being stolen, and that the Ares, Apollo, and Aphrodite cabins were backing Poseidon while the Athena Cabin backed Zeus.

He also said he thought that Hades might've been the one to steal the Master Bolt before the hose shut off.

The group then trudged to a nearby diner, where they had met Ares, who had assigned them a mini quest in return for a ride to Vegas.

* * *

When they all returned, all of them except Grover glared at the God of War. The man just laughed before throwing Percy a backpack, gave him information on Percy's mother, then drove away on his motorcycle.

The ride to LA ended up being in the back of a illegal animal transport van, with a single stop to Vegas.

The five sat in the back corner of the van, with Vitani casting a strong notice-me-not charm on all of them just in case the truckers came to check on the animals. She also cast several cooling charms since it was so hot, much to the relief of everyone in the back of the van.

Whilst on the road, Luke managed to switch the food dishes that the animals were given with his sword. He gave the Lion the trays of hamburger meat while giving the Zebra and the Antelope the turnips. Percy was able to clean their water and Annabeth untied the balloon from the Antelope's horn. She wanted to cut the gum from the Zebra's mane, but couldn't do it while the van was moving, as she didn't want to accidentally hurt the poor animal. Grover then tried to calm the animals down.

The five then settled for the night, with Vitani casting cushioning charms to ease their discomfort.

"Sorry about freaking out at the water park, guys." Annabeth said sullenly.

"It's fine." Vitani said, smiling reassuringly.

"It's just...spiders." Annabeth shuddered.

"It's because of the Arachne story right? She got turned into a spider for challenging your mom to a weaving contest." Percy guessed.

"Yeah, Arachne's children have been taking revenge on the children of Athena ever since. If there's a spider within a mile of me, it'll find me. I hate the creepy little things." Annabeth shivered.

"Oh if you hate small spiders, you'll hate Acromantulas more than anything else." Vitani said, smirking.

"Acromantulas?" Annabeth asked, wide eyed.

"Yep, imagine, giant poisonous spiders, the size of cars, all chasing you, wanting to eat you. Hundreds of them." Vitani said, looking positively evil right now.

Luke tried to stifle his laughter as Annabeth's eyes were wide in horror, trying to imagine such a terrifyingly large army of giant spiders that would eat her. She turned completely pale and looked near ready to faint from such a mental image.

"Of course, the only nest I've ever seen lived in the Forbidden forest in Scotland." Vitani shrugged, Annabeth glared at her for scaring her so much.

Grover soon told the story of Thalia, the daughter of Zeus, and how he had strict orders to get her safely to camp no matter the cost. But he felt that he couldn't just leave Annabeth and Luke by themselves, and he tried his best to get all three to camp safely. However, the scent of three demigods were easier to follow, and Thalia ending up giving her life to save Annabeth's and Luke's.

Of course Luke and Annabeth tried to reassure Grover that it wasn't his fault, and that he tried his best.

However, Grover just kept putting himself down and moaned about how he, the lamest Satyr in history, had found two of the strongest Demigods he had ever met, Thalia and Percy.

After some more reassuring words from Luke, Percy, and Annabeth, Grover fell asleep.

* * *

As soon as they arrived to Vegas, they let the animals free and Grover put a Satyr's Sanctuary on them.

The group then went deep into Vegas as the truckers were chased by the police, and everyone was too absorbed in looking at the Zoo animals than to pay attention to them.

They soon came across the Lotus Casino, and when the doorman invited them inside, they obliged.

That was their biggest mistake.

They were in the casino for 5 days because of the  _addictive_ games, which meant that had only one more day to get the Master bolt and take it back to Zeus.

The five then stopped a cab, since they all couldn't fit into one cab, they called a second one. Grover, Percy, and Annabeth would take one cab, and Luke and Vitani would take the other.

"Hey kids, where to?" The cab driver asked.

"The Santa Monica Pier in Los Angeles." Vitani said, getting into the first cab.

"Uh, that's 300 miles, for that you gotta pay up front." The cab driver said nervously.

"Do you take casino debit cards?" Vitani asked.

"Some of 'em, work the same as credit cards. Gotta swipe 'em first though." The driver said.

"Here." Luke said, handing over his green LotusCash card.

The driver took it skeptically.

"Swipe it." Luke encouraged.

The driver did so, and dropped his jaw when the infinity sign came up onto the screen beside the money sign.

"If you get us there fast, you can keep the change." Vitani bribed.

Apparently that was the right thing to say, as they didn't drop below 95 the whole way through the Mojave desert. It was the same with the cab behind them.

The drivers dropped them off with good wishes, after they left, Percy immediately headed for the polluted water before diving under.

"Well, he's the son of Poseidon, he probably can breath underwater." Vitani said.

The four then decided to wander around a bit, with Luke finding something that would hinder us. Percy was wanted boy, and it seemed that the police was looking for him.

"Damn." Vitani cursed. "Here, I'll do a glamour spell. It'll change our looks enough so no one will recognize us."

"Good thinking." Annabeth smiled.

Luke was changed so he had long brown hair and hazel eyes, Annabeth had dark brown hair and blue eyes and would pose as Luke's little sister. Vitani changed her hair to become fiery red with brown eyes, and Grover just stayed the same. She then also altered some of their features, to look different enough so they wouldn't be recognized.

When Percy came back out of the water, he did a double take. "Guys? Where did you go?"

"Over here Percy!" Annabeth called over.

"Huh? Why do you all look so different? If it wasn't for your voice..." Percy trailed off.

"Vitani changed our looks, you have to remember that you're a wanted boy! We don't want anyone to recognize us!" Annabeth chided.

"Right, are you going to change my looks too?" Percy asked.

"Yeah, just give me a moment..." Vitani said and pulled him into a nearby alley. She then changed his hair to become blonde, and his eyes became a light blue.

"There, we all look different enough now." Vitani nodded.

The group then took a bus to West Hollywood, and wandered around, trying to find the DOA recording studios. Except no one knew where it was.

"Is there some way to find it, I dunno, magically?" Percy asked as they ducked into another alley.

"Yeah, hold on." Vitani said and pulled out her Elder wand, since it was a Deathly Hallow, she figured it had a better chance. "Point me DOA Recording Studios, Entrance to the Underworld."

They all watched as the wand spun on above her hand before pointing away from them.

"Great!" Luke said with relief.

* * *

Convincing Charon to allow them into the Underworld wasn't easy. As the Master of Death, Vitani got free passage, but the others didn't. Especially after Grover told the ridiculous lie of all four of them drowning in a bathtub together. Not to mention that Charon could smell the godly blood in them.

It was thanks to Vitani bribing the guy with a bag full of golden drachma, that they were all able to get on the boat to the underworld safely.

"The River Styx," Annabeth murmured. "It's so ..."

"Polluted." Charon said. "For thousands of years, you humans have been throwing in everything as you come across—hopes, dreams, wishes that never came true. Irresponsible waste management, if you ask me."

The way down was quiet and dreary, it was then that Vitani had a mischievous gleam in her eye. With a wave of her wand, creepy music started to play, scaring all of her companions except Luke.

"Here we go!" Vitani said cheerfully before beginning to sing. (*This is Halloween* from the movie 'The Nightmare before Christmas')

" _Boys and girls of every age_

_Wouldn't you like to see something strange?_

_Come with us and you will see_

_This, our town of Halloween."_

Charon chuckled when the dead started to pay more attention to what was going on and begun to sing along, scaring the crap out of the Master of Death's three friends. Luke however just wrapped and arm around Vitani's shoulders and started to sing along happily.

" _This is Halloween, this is Halloween  
Pumpkins scream in the dead of night_

 _This is Halloween, everybody make a scene_  
Trick or treat till the neighbours gonna die of fright  
It's our town, everybody scream  
In this town of Halloween."

Percy, Annabeth, and Grover saw the dead were flying about now and giving off random bouts of screams. When the next part came, it sounded like something under the boat was singing along.

_"I am the one hiding under your bed  
Teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red_

_I am the one hiding under yours stairs  
Fingers like snakes and spiders in my hair_

_This is Halloween, this is Halloween_

_Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!_

_In this town we call home  
Everyone hail to the pumpkin song_

_In this town, don't we love it now?  
Everybody's waiting for the next surprise"_

A Coo Coo Clock's bird shot up out of the muck and made Annabeth scream while Percy and Grover clung to each other in fright.

_"Round that corner, man hiding in the trash can  
Something's waiting now to pounce, and how you'll..._

_Scream! This is Halloween  
_ _Red 'n' black, slimy green_

_Aren't you scared?_

_Well, that's just fine_  
Say it once, say it twice  
Take a chance and roll the dice  
Ride with the moon in the dead of night

_Everybody scream, everybody scream_

_In our town of Halloween!"_

His three friends where white as a sheet by this point as the ghosts were flying around screaming in good nature. Then three weird ghosts came up to the three. A clown for Grover and two robed ghost for Percy and Annabeth respectively. Meanwhile, Luke and Vitani just kept singing cheerfully.

_"I am the clown with the tear-away face  
Here in a flash and gone without a trace_

_I am the "who" when you call, "Who's there?"  
I am the wind blowing through your hair_

_I am the shadow on the moon at night  
Filling your dreams to the brim with fright_

_This is Halloween, this is Halloween_  
Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!  
Halloween! Halloween!"

Luke smirked at the three and gave them a shit eating grin that made them shriek in fear before he continued to sing.

_"Tender lumplings everywhere  
Life's no fun without a good scare_

_That's our job, but we're not mean  
In our town of Halloween_

_In this town_

_Don't we love it now?"_

Percy and Annabeth kept looking around, as if something was going to pop out and grab them while Grover kept muttering things under his breath, all three were practically hyperventilating.

 _"Everybody's waiting for the next surprise_  
Skeleton Jack might catch you in the back  
And scream like a banshee  
Make you jump out of your skin  
This is Halloween, everybody scream

_Wont' ya please make way for a very special guy_

_Our man jack is King of the Pumpkin patch  
Everyone hail to the Pumpkin King, now!_

_This is Halloween, this is Halloween  
Halloween! Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!_

_In this town we call home  
Everyone hail to the pumpkin song_

_La la-la la, Halloween! Halloween!"_

By the time they had reached the shoreline, Grover looked he was about to pass out from fear while Percy and Annabeth looked as pale as ghosts and both had terrified expressions on.

Charon chuckled. "Well, you sure now how to liven up a party, although, I think you scared your friends to death."

"Hmm?" Vitani replied as she looked to her three companions. "Oh come on guys, lighten up!"

"P-please don't do s-something like that a-again." Grover stammered out, to which the others just nodded to very quickly in agreement. Luke just laughed however, finding the situation hilarious.

* * *

"The Garden of Persephone." Annabeth gasped before trying to hold her breath.

Vitani cast bubble-head charms on everyone to keep them from smelling and trying to eat the pomegranates.

"Can you use this to breath underwater too?" Luke asked curiously.

"Yep, it's one of the methods you can use other than being a child of Poseidon." Vitani nodded.

When they entered the palace, they saw all sorts of skeleton guards wearing different types of military uniforms.

When they reached the end of the hall, the skeleton guards grinned down at the group and let them inside, where they saw Hades himself, lounging on his throne made of human bones.

"Ah, it's nice to meet the champion of Thanatos' Hallows at last, you're as beautiful as they say young Vitani Rosalie Potter." Hades said smirking at the witch, to which Luke took her hand into his own, standing partially in front of her protectively. "And you must be Hermes' favourite son, courting Hecate's favourite and most powerful daughter eh? How interesting... You are known to me Miss Potter, Tom Marvolo Riddle had been a thorn in my side for quite some time. How funny that the mortal had split his soul for so long they they had become separate entities. Tom Riddle, and Voldemort. Tom Riddle opted for rebirth, while Voldemort is in the Fields of punishment."

Vitani couldn't find the strength to smile for Tom, not in this situation, she gripped Luke's hand tightly.

"You, however, are brave to come here, Son of Poseidon," He said in an oily voice. "After what you have done to me, very brave indeed. Or perhaps you are simply very foolish."

"Lord and Uncle, I've come with two requests." Percy said, putting on a brave face.

"Only two requests?" Hades said. "Arrogant child. As if you have not already taken enough. Speak, then. It amuses me not to strike you dead yet."

Everything went downhill from there, especially when they had found the Master bolt in the backpack that  _Ares_ had given them, not to mention Hades' helm was missing as well.

"Take the pearls! I'll be fine!" Vitani said forcefully.

"But-!" Luke protested.

"No! You all go! I can leave myself! But you guys can't! JUST GO!" Vitani shouted.

All four of them stomped on their pearls, Luke however seemed to deeply regret doing so, as he looked at Vitani with tearful pain filled eyes. They were soon taken away in a ball of light.

"You better have a good explanation for this, the reason I do not strike you down this instant, is because Hecate would give me hell, she is as powerful as a major Goddess despite being a Minor one, and that you are Thanatos' champion." Hades said, sitting back into his chair, seething.

Vitani told him how Ares had given the backpack the Master Bolt was in, and how he had probably taken his helm.

"Hmm... I shall strike a bargain with you then, Death Champion." Hades said.

"And what would that be?" Vitani asked warily.

"I will allow you to leave, I'll even help you get to your lover faster. But you must return with my helm, I want you to bring it to me...personally."

"And Sally Jackson?"

He frowned, looking at where he was keeping the woman imprisoned. He snapped his fingers and it was gone, just gone. For a moment she began to worry.

"She is safely outside her apartment. You will find her there, I assure you this by my honour as the King of the Underworld." He said. "But be aware, Vitani Potter, if you betray me your suffering will be legendary. Luke Castellan will pay in his afterlife for it as well."

"I swear." Vitani said, taking a deep breath.

"Good. Take this to return here." He said, handing over a black marble. "If you're afraid of the dark, I'd suggest closing your eyes."

The shadows then engulfed her.

* * *

Vitani had arrived just when Percy had picked up Hades' bronze helm of darkness.

"Vitani? VITANI!" Luke called out, looking extremely relieved as he ran over and hugged her tightly. "Thank the gods you're okay! I don't know what I would do without you! I love you!"

Vitani widened her eyes, as did Percy, Grover, and Annabeth at the declaration. Vitani then felt Luke press his lips to hers, kissing her desperately as if to make sure she was really there.

Vitani smiled brightly, breaking away for a moment. "I love you too."

Luke had to blink away the tears from the rush of emotions he was feeling before he dived back in for another kiss.

They soon broke apart when Percy cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Uhh well..." Percy started awkwardly.

"Here Percy, I'll take the helm back to Hades. I made a deal with him." Vitani said, holding out her hands as she walked over.

"Deal?"

"Uh huh. If I returned Hades' helm back to him personally, he'd let go of your mum and I got to leave. Your mum should be just outside her apartment actually." Vitani said. Percy smiled brightly in response and gladly handed the helm over.

"You're not going back without me." Luke said stubbornly.

"Alright then, you three should get the Master Bolt back to Zeus, while Luke and I will take the helm back to Hades before heading back to camp. We weren't supposed to be on his quest after all." Vitani winked. "The doubles I had take our place should be getting tired of acting as us."

"Alright then, see you two back at camp-" Percy said before Annabeth cut him off.

"How're we supposed to get to New York by tonight?" Annabeth asked worriedly.

"Fly, Zeus won't harm the plane, it's too risky if you guys have the Master Bolt, unless he wants to accidentally destroy it or fish it out of the rubble himself." Luke said logically.

"And the money?" Grover asked.

"Take this." Vitani said, she fished out a golden credit card from her satchel bag and handed it to Annabeth.

"But what about you guys?" Annabeth asked, taking the card gratefully.

"I can teleport us back to camp, so we're fine." Vitani answered.

"Alright then, thanks." Annabeth said before hailing a cab for the airport.

* * *

When they landed in the forest near camp, Luke fell to his hands and knees and took hyperventilating breaths, looking a bit green. They had just apparated from Hollywood after giving Hades back his helm.

"I told you that apparation makes you feel sick for first timers." Vitani said, crouching down to rub his back gently.

"I should've just teleported myself..." Luke said, leaning against a tree to steady himself.

Vitani frowned. "Since when could you teleport?"

"Since not to long ago, a new trick I learned with Backbiter." Luke said, grinning cheekily.

"Then why didn't you just teleport yourself?"

"Because I wanted to know what apparation felt like." Luke replied, feeling better.

The two then sneaked into camp using the invisibility cloak, heading straight to Hecate's cabin.

On the couch, sitting watching the television, were the clones of Luke and Vitani.

"Mistress! You're back!" Clone Vitani said happily.

"Thank you for your help." Vitani said gratefully. "Please return, Mirror."

The two clones glowed before taking form of the Clow card, The Mirror.

"Back at last, that was one heck of an adventure." Luke sighed, falling onto the couch.

"Why don't we take a shower. According to the clock, it's almost dinner time." Vitani said.

"Good idea."


	6. Chapter 6

When Percy, Annabeth, and Grover returned to camp, they were treated like heroes, the first to return alive from a Quest since Luke.

There was a huge celebration for the three of them, with Vitani and Luke sharing secretive smiles. Though Ares' sons and daughters sent Percy heated glares for humiliating their father.

Argus never found out who had knocked him out, but Chiron would send Luke and Vitani a small knowing smile every once in a while.

Soon it was the 4th of July fireworks, and Percy and Annabeth had gone together.

After watching the show, everyone headed to bed.

Luke however, was being dragged to Hecate's cabin.

* * *

Once they were in Vitani's bedroom, Luke dived in for a kiss while gently nudging Vitani towards her bed. As soon as they reached it, he lowered Vitani down gently, looking deep into her eyes.

"Are you sure about this?" Luke asked quietly.

"Yes, I'm ready." Vitani said, nodding before pulling Luke down to kiss him.

**LEMON ALERT**

As they kissed, Luke gently eased Vitani out of her shirt, breaking apart to pull it over her head before taking his own shirt off. They then reconnected their lips as they unzipped each other's pants, leaving them in their underwear.

Luke then moved his lips to her neck, kissing and sucking the flesh gently as he reached behind Vitani and unclasped and removed her black lace bra. She moaned when he cupped her modest breasts his large hands, massaging them gently, moaning once more when he took one of her nipples into his mouth.

He moved lower, sliding her black panties off her smooth legs and letting it drop to the floor. He then settled himself in between her legs, putting them over his shoulder as he leaned in.

Vitani clamped her eyes shut in embarrassment as Luke looked her bare body over intently.

"Beautiful." He breathed before spread her lower lips open and gave her clit a small lick, making Vitani arch off the bed with a small cry.

"W-What—Ah! No—Luke!" Vitani protested weakly as Luke continued to use his tongue to pleasure her.

"Hmm? But you like it, dear Vitani." Luke teased as he eased a finger into her, pumping it into her gently.

"Mmmm!" Vitani groaned into her pillow, trying to stifle her sounds.

"No, no, don't do that, Vitani, I want to hear you scream!" Luke said in a low husky manner, adding another finger and curling them before sucking on her clit.

"AHH!" Vitani moaned loudly, arching her back as Luke pressed something in her that made her toes curl in pleasure.

"That's it, let go..." Luke crooned, adding a third finger into her and thrusting them faster, hitting the spot that made her see stars..

Vitani moved her hips in sync with his fingers, adding more pleasure before she came abruptly. Luke then pulled his fingers out and pushed his tongue inside her, which made Vitani moan loudly, helping her ride out her orgasm.

Once she came down from her high, she watched as Luke licked his fingers clean of her essence, giving her a seductive smouldering look all the while.

He then pulled off his boxers, revealing his large erection.

"Do you have a condom? Or are you on the pill?" Luke asked, his heated gaze softened somewhat.

"Here." Vitani said, with a wave of her hand, he glowed blue briefly. "A contraception spell to prevent pregnancy and the transfer of disease."

Luke mock scowled. "I do not have disease, I'm a virgin."

Vitani raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Really?"

"Yes, what did you think?" Luke asked, narrowing his eyes playfully.

"Oh nothing..." Vitani replied, smiling innocently, a look that Luke didn't believe for a second. But Vitani was bursting with happiness that she would be Luke's first and vise versa.

Luke chuckled and kissed Vitani as he settled himself over her, his hot phallus pressed to her entrance.

"Ready? This'll hurt." Luke said.

"I know." Vitani nodded. Luke returned her nod and rested an arm beside Vitani's head while the other wrapped around her waist firmly.

He then gave a quick thrust to break her barrier before easing in slowly until he was fully seated within her. He moved so his elbows rested on either side of Vitani's head and waited, keeping still as she adjusted to his size.

It was painful, nothing she couldn't handle, but she was glad that Luke stayed still for her. She took a few deep breaths as a couple tears managed to leak out from her eyes. Soon the pain ebbed away into a dull ache.

"Luke, move." Vitani whispered.

Luke started immediately, setting a slow and gentle pace. He groaned at the feeling of Vitani's wet warm walls, clenching around him tightly.

"Gods, Vitani... you're so tight—so good..." Luke moaned, his eyes rolled as he picked up the pace slightly when she wrapped her legs around his hips and her arms around his neck.

"Ohhh!" Vitani gasped, feeling the pain giving away to pleasure as Luke continued to move. She cried out when he had hit her sweet spot. "There, Luke! Mmm! More—ahh!"

"Vitani..." Luke ground out in pleasure before he did as told, moving faster, continuing to hit her sweet spot over and over, relishing in her loud melodious moans which were sweet music to his ears. He then pressed his lips to her's giving her a brief yet passionate kiss, groaning when he felt her tug at his hair.

"Ahh! Ah! Harder, faster!" Vitani demanded, high on pleasure as she ground her hips to his, making him groan.

Luke then reared up on to his knees and lifted her hips slightly before thrusting with abandon, also rubbing her clit with his thumb. Both nearly at their peaks.

"Oh—Luke, so close! Please, more!" Vitani moaned.

Luke grunted, after several more hard thrusts, they both came with a call of each other's name. He groaned as he spilled himself within Vitani. Luke then gave a few more thrusts, riding out their climax, before he collapsed at Vitani's side, pulling her on top of him. Vitani blushed slightly when she felt Luke's softening member still inside her.

**END LEMON**

They took the time to catch their breaths before Luke pulled her in for another kiss, a gentle and slow one, as if he was pouring all his love into it.

"I love you." Luke said sincerely, gently running his hands through her long dark hair.

"I love you too." Vitani smiled, kissing him once more. She squeaked when she felt his member flare back to life.

"Again?" Luke asked, giving her a smug smirk.

"You think you're up for it?" Vitani teased as she sat up.

"Now I definitely have to avenge my manly pride." Luke smirked.

They did not get much sleep that night.

* * *

The next morning, Annabeth, Percy, and Luke came to see Grover off, since he finally got his searchers licence and was about to go on his quest to search for Pan.

"Where's Vitani? And why do you look so tired?" Annabeth asked, looking at Luke.

Luke coughed awkwardly as his cheeks pinked. "She's uh... catching up on some much needed sleep at the moment."

"Sleep? What did you—oh, OH!" Annabeth said, catching on, her face turned completely crimson. Luke just smiled cheekily at her, winking, which made her blush even harder. "Luke, I didn't need to know that!"

"You asked." Luke shrugged, giving her a shit eating grin.

"What?" Grover and Percy asked.

"Nothing!" Annabeth said quickly.

Percy and Grover just looked between a smug looking Luke and a clearly embarrassed Annabeth. Connecting the dots, the two boys blushed hard.

"Y-You—you...!" Percy stammered out, his face red while Grover just bleated.

Luke laughed at their reactions.

"Anyways...! I'm off." Grover started awkwardly, changing the subject. "I just came to say, well, you know..."

Annabeth, Percy, and Luke gave sad smiles.

"Where are you going first?" Percy asked as Annabeth gave Grover a hug.

"Kind of a secret." He said, looking embarrassed. "I wish you could come with me, guys, but humans and Pan..."

"We understand." Annabeth said. "You got enough tin cans for the trip?"

"Yeah."

"And you remembered your reed pipes?"

"Jeez, Annabeth." He grumbled. "You're like an old mama goat."

But he didn't really seem annoyed.

"Oh, here, Grover. Vitani wanted me to give this to you, you know, just in case you need a little luck." Luke said, pulling a tiny vial of molten gold from his pocket. The vial was attached to a thin chain, to make a necklace.

"Liquid luck." Annabeth breathed, her amazed eyes glued to the tiny vial Luke handed over to Grover, who eyed it with curiosity.

"Liquid—what?" Percy asked.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Liquid Luck. A magical potion that makes the taker successful in all their endeavours, well, at least until the effects wear off."

"Why didn't we use that on our quest then?" Percy pouted.

Annabeth sighed. "You don't think that a powerful potion like that would come without consequences do you? Liquid Luck is dangerous if used in excess and it's highly toxic if taken in high quantities. It's supposed to be used sparingly!"

"Oh."

"Not to mention it takes 6 months to brew. I don't know how Vitani had gotten her hands on some, but it'll be useful on your quest to find Pan." Luke said.

"Wow!" Grover said, amazed as he looked at the tiny vial in awe.

"Yeah, so, Grover, don't take that potion unless you're in a really tight spot!" Annabeth warned.

"Got it!" Grover said, slipping it around his neck.

"Vitani also used an unbreakable charm on both the chain and the vial, just in case you know?" Luke said.

"Good thinking." Annabeth said approvingly.

"Well, wish me luck! Vitani already gave me some of hers." Grover smiled, pulling a small box from his pack. "Hey, give this to Vitani, would you? It's for her birthday."

"Sure thing." Luke said, taking a small box from the Satyr.

Grover then gave Annabeth another hug and clapped both Luke and Percy on the back before heading off.

"Hey Grover!" Percy called just before the satyr disappeared into the woods. Grover turned around questioningly.  **"** Wherever you're going—I hope they make good enchiladas."

Grover grinned, and then he was gone, the trees closing around him.

"We'll see him again." Annabeth said.

"Yeah." Luke smiled, clapping the two on the back before he headed back to Cabin 13, Hecate's cabin.

* * *

July passed, and everyone continued to train, except when they took a small break on the 31st of July to celebrate Vitani's birthday in the Hermes' cabin. She had gotten more charms to add to her bracelet. A ball cap from Annabeth, a heart from Luke, a trident from Percy, Grover had left a reed pipe charm for her with Luke, a Gemini charm from the Stoll twins, a set of lingerie from Fleur (to which Vitani flushed with embarrassment and kept hidden from everyone but Luke, who had managed to catch a glimpse. He had written a thank you letter to the half veela after that), a another book on Greek Mythology from Hermione, a box of prank products from Ron and George, and a book an very advanced magic from Hecate.

When the end of August came, everyone ate their last meal, burning a portion for the Gods. At the bonfire, the senior counsellors awarded the End of Summer Beads. It was pitch black with a sea green trident shimmering in the centre. The year before, the bead was dark blue with a golden star, a sky blue crescent moon, and a winged red shoe, symbolizing Vitani's arrival and the changes she made to Cabin 11.

"The choice was unanimous." Luke announced. "This bead commemorates the first Son of the Sea God at this camp, and the quest he undertook into the darkest part of the Underworld to stop a war!"

The entire camp got to their feet and cheered. Even Ares' cabin felt obliged to stand. Athena's cabin steered Annabeth to the front so she could share in the applause.

Soon the camp was near deserted as most of the campers were there for only the summer, only a few stayed for the whole year, Ethan, Clarisse, Luke, Annabeth, and Vitani included.

Percy decided to get in a little extra training, deciding it would clear is head of his decision to be at camp just for the summer or all year round.

* * *

No one other than Vitani knew, that as soon they were back at camp from the quest, Luke kept a closer eye on Ethan than ever. Loki still hissed whenever he was near, his back arching and his fur standing on end. Everyone just assumed that the cat just hated Ethan for no apparent reason, but Luke and Vitani knew better.

So when Loki ran over and pawed at Luke's leg, he knew something was wrong. Loki led him into the forest near the creek, where Annabeth first assigned Percy on patrol duty during his first Capture the Flag game. There he saw Ethan, disappearing into the shadows and Percy, lying down on the ground, a big welt on his hand and a dead Pit Scorpion nearby.

Luke wasted no time in lifting Percy in his arms and running towards camp, Loki hot on his heels.

"CHIRON! CHIRON!" Luke shouted.

Chiron came from the big house questioningly, before seeing Percy. He grabbed the sea demigod quickly and took him into the Big House.

"What happened?" Chiron asked as he quickly got to work on the boy.

"Ethan! He set a Pit Scorpion on Percy and left!" Luke answered hurriedly.

"Get Miss Potter, she can help me!" Chiron said.

Luke nodded and ran towards Cabin 13.

* * *

Turns out, Percy was going to be just fine, thanks to the bezoar Vitani had shoved down Percy's throat and Chiron's expert healing.

Annabeth decided to stay with Percy until he woke, while Vitani and Luke were down at the lake dock.

"That could've been me." Luke said, staring intently at the water.

"What do you mean?" Vitani asked.

"Ethan, I could've been the one in his place. It's Kronos." Luke answered with a shiver. "He came to me in my dreams after my failed quest, he whispered all of these dark seductive thoughts to me..."

Luke took a shuddering breath.

"I was about to give in when you came along. For some reason, whenever you were near me, I couldn't hear Kronos anymore." Luke swallowed. "You became the light in my darkness, and I fell in love with you. When you made me promise to never give into my hatred, I knew you understood me. What it feels like to be used..."

Vitani nodded, taking his hand into hers, gripping it reassuringly.

"After we got together, I just ignored Kronos, I didn't listen to him anymore. I kept thinking about you, how disappointed you'd be if I listened, so I kept ignoring him until he just stopped coming to me. He must've moved onto Ethan instead, and with Ethan being an unclaimed demigod for so long..." Luke said.

"He gave in." Vitani finished. "What did he say?"

"He wanted me to serve him, he wanted me to help him tear down Olympus and bring about a new age, he also wanted me to steal Zeus' Master Bolt and Hades' Darkness Helm. Ethan must've done it when he went to Olympus for that field trip." Luke said.

"It's okay, I'll be here for you, always." Vitani smiled.

"Thank you." Luke said, smiling softly back before leaning against her.


	7. Chapter 7

Since Annabeth was going to go back to her father for the rest of the year til next summer, Vitani decided to take Luke on a trip around the world, seeing the sights and occasionally battling a monster.

To no surprise, Luke loved travelling, and they visited every magical community they could find.

Vitani even brought Luke to meet the Weasleys and Teddy (whom she visited at least once a month) for the first time, with all of them approving of him, especially Ginny and Fleur.

**Flashback**

" _Whoa! You hit the jackpot, Vitani! He is gorgeous!" Ginny said, running an appraising eye over Luke's form._

" _I agree, 'e is very 'andsome! I approve of ze boy, and 'e is immune to my veela charm! Nice muscles too!" Fleur said in an approving tone as she gripped his bicep. "And 'e 'as a nice scar as well, just like my Bill! "_

_Luke blinked as the two women practically groped him, testing his biceps, abs, and he was sure the redhead had grabbed his ass but it happened so fast that he couldn't tell._

_Vitani and Hermione just facepalmed as Ginny and Fleur kept circling the son of Hermes._

" _Alright enough! Stop groping him!" Vitani said, pulling a relieved Luke back to her side. "Luke Castellan, meet Ginny, or Ginerva, Weasley and Fleur Delacour."_

" _A pleasure to meet you, ladies." Luke said with a bright smile that could've blinded an ordinary girl._

" _Mama Vivi!" Teddy squealed. Vitani smiled widely as she hugged Teddy to her person, having taken him for the day as Andromeda did some errands._

" _Teddy, this is my boyfriend, Luke. Won't you say hello?" Vitani said, holding up Teddy so he could get a good look at Luke._

_Teddy giggled. "Hello, Lulu!"_

_Everybody laughed, including Luke._

" _Hey there, little buddy." Luke said, taking Teddy from Vitani's arms. In response, Teddy's hair turned a sandy blonde to match Luke's and his eyes turned bright green to match Vitani's eyes._

_He now looked like a perfect mix of Luke and Vitani._

" _Whoa." Luke widened his eyes. "How did he do that?"  
_

" _A gift he inherited from his mother." Vitani answered before tickling Teddy's tummy, making him squeal with laughter._

**End Flashback**

For Luke's birthday, Vitani had worn a Japanese maid cosplay outfit complete with black lingerie underneath and called him 'Master Luke' for the whole day. Least to say, Luke loved it and couldn't keep his hands off her and made love to her continuously nearly the entire day.

The months soon passed quickly for Luke and Vitani. The two spent Christmas with the Weasleys before travelling the world once more.

When Summer was just about to begin however, both Luke and Vitani both started to get horrible dreams about Camp Half-Blood.

Worried, the both of them immediately took a portkey there.

* * *

If there was anything Percy had hated worse than trios of old ladies, it was bulls. Last summer, He fought the Minotaur on top of Half-Blood Hill. This time what he saw up there was even worse: two fires breathing  **bronze-bulls** the size of elephants.

As soon as they exited the taxi, the Gray Sisters peeled out, heading back to New York, where life was safer. They didn't even wait for their extra three-drachma payment. They just left them on the side of the road, Annabeth with nothing but her backpack and knife, Tyson and Percy still in their burned-up tie-dyed gym clothes.

"Oh, man." said Annabeth, looking at the battle raging on the hill.

They saw the ten or so campers on the hill, decked out in full Greek armour trying to fend off the beasts and it was not working so well.

_'That shouldn't have been possible. The camp's magic boundaries didn't allow monsters to cross past Thalia's tree. But the metal bulls were doing it anyway,'_ Percy thought.

One of the heroes shouted, "Border patrol, to me!" A girl's voice—gruff and familiar.

' _Border patrol?'_ Percy thought. _'The camp didn't have a border patrol.'_

"It's Clarisse." Annabeth said. "Come on, we have to help her."

Normally, rushing to Clarisse's aid would not have been high on Percy 'to do' list. She was one of the biggest bullies at camp. The first time they had met she tried to introduce his head in a toilet. She was also a daughter of Ares, and he had had a very serious disagreement with her father last summer, so now the god of war and all his children basically hated his guts.

' _Still, she is in trouble,'_ He thought.

Clarisse's fellow warriors were scattering, running in panic as the bulls charged. The grass was burning in huge swathes around the pine tree. One hero screamed and waved his arms as he ran in circles, the horse-hair plume on his helmet blazing like a fiery Mohawk. Clarisse's own armour was charred. She was fighting with a broken spear shaft, the other end embedded uselessly in the metal joint of one bull's shoulder.

Uncapping his pen, making the bronze sword appear, Percy said, "Tyson, stay here. I don't want you taking any more chances."

"No!" Annabeth said. "We need him."

Percy stared at her. "He's mortal. He got lucky with the dodge balls but he can't—"

"Percy, do you know what those are up there? The Colchis bulls, made by Hephaestus himself. We can't fight them without Medea's Sunscreen SPF 50,000. We'll get burned to a crisp."

"Medea's what?"

Annabeth rummaged through her backpack and cursed. "I had a jar of tropical coconut scent sitting on my night-stand at home. Why didn't I bring it?"

Percy had learned a long time ago not to question Annabeth too much. It just made him more confused. "Look, I don't know what you're talking about, but I'm not going to let Tyson get fried."

"Percy—"

"Tyson, stay back." He raised my sword. "I'm going in."

Tyson tried to protest, but Percy was already running up the hill toward Clarisse, who was yelling at her patrol, trying to get them into a phalanx formation. It was a good idea. The few who were listening lined up shoulder-to-shoulder, locking their shields to form an ox-hide—and-bronze wall, their spears bristling over the top like porcupine quills.

Unfortunately, Clarisse could only muster six campers. The other four were still running around with their helmets on fire. Annabeth ran toward them, trying to help. She taunted one of the bulls into chasing her, then turned invisible, completely confusing the monster. The other bull charged Clarisse's line.

Percy was halfway up the hill, but he was not close enough to help. The bull moved deadly fast for something so big.

"Hold the line!" Clarisse ordered her warriors.

Unfortunately, at that moment, the other bull lost interest in finding Annabeth. It turned, wheeling around behind Clarisse on her unprotected side.

"Behind you!" Percy tried to warn her. "Look out!"

But it was a wrong move on his part and Bull Number One crashed into her shield, and the phalanx broke. Clarisse went flying backward and landed in a smouldering patch of grass. The bull charged past her, but not before blasting the other heroes with its fiery breath. Their shields melted right off their arms. They dropped their weapons and ran as Bull Number Two closed in on Clarisse for the kill.

Percy lunged forward and grabbed Clarisse by the straps of her armour. He dragged her out of the way just as Bull Number Two freight-trained past, but he felt the heat of its metal skin. Its body temperature could've microwaved a frozen burrito.

"Let me go!" Clarisse pummelled Percy's hand. "Percy, curse you!"

He dropped her in a heap next to the pine tree and turned to face the bulls while Annabeth ordered the remaining heroes to attack. They tried to stop them, because the whole camp would be at risk if these bulls got past to them.

Percy took his sword and lunged toward bulls. He attempted to attack them, but he couldn't fight both bulls at the same time. He was already getting tired. He avoided another attack.

But before he could feel too good about that, his foot caught on something and pain shot up his ankle.

Bull Number One glared at the Percy menacingly before it charged at him. Son of Poseidon tried to get back up, but with his sprained ankle, he didn't get very far.

Seeing Percy about to be trampled on by an elephant sized bronze bull, Annabeth shouted, "Tyson! Help him!"

Somewhere near, toward the crest of the hill, Tyson wailed, "Can't—get—through!"

"I, Annabeth Chase, give you permission to enter camp!"

Thunder shook the hillside. Suddenly Tyson was there, barrelling toward Percy, yelling: "Percy needs help!"

Before Percy could tell him no, he dove between him and the bull just as it unleashed a nuclear firestorm.

"Tyson!" Percy yelled as his friend was engulfed in flames as it swirled around him like a red tornado.

When the fire died, Tyson was still standing there, completely unharmed. Not even his grungy clothes were scorched. The bull must've been as surprised as Percy was, because before it could unleash a second blast, Tyson balled his fists and slammed them into the bull's face. "BAD COW!"

His fists made a crater where the bronze bull's snout used to be. Two small columns of flame shot out of its ears. Tyson hit it again, and the bronze crumpled under his hands like aluminium foil. The bull's face now looked like a sock puppet pulled inside out.

"Down!" Tyson yelled.

The bull staggered and fell on its back. Its legs moved feebly in the air, steam coming out of head in odd places.

Annabeth ran over to check on him. She gave him some nectar to heal him. Percy immediately started to feel better.

Suddenly, one of the heroes shouted, "This isn't good!"

They looked at him. To their horror they saw another bronze bull, but he wasn't alone. With him was one Hellhound and large black scorpion.

"We can't fight all of them, we need backup!" Clarisse said in a slightly frightened voice.

"Oh Gods! I wish Vitani and Luke was here!" Annabeth cursed.

Before the monsters could get closer however, they heard a voice.

"Windy, become my binding chain!"

A ethereal wind spirit then flew past them and rushed the three monsters, lifting them into the air where they struggled fruitlessly to get free. The bull was blowing flames in every direction in anger, but it did nothing.

"You guys all right?"

Everyone turned to see Luke and Vitani running towards them, Luke had Backbiter out and Vitani had her Star wand.

"Luke! Vitani!" Annabeth said with hope filling her voice.

"Vitani, we should get rid of these guys first so you can put up a barrier." Luke suggested.

"Right." Vitani nodded, taking out a card and threw it in front of her where it floated in mid air. She then pointed her Star wand at it. "Sword!"

Vitani's Star wand glowed before become a rapier like sword. She and Luke then charged the three monsters before slicing them into bits. Vitani got the Bronze bull while Luke had gotten the Hellhound and the Scorpion.

Everyone watched in relief as the monsters disappeared into gold dust, except the bull, who turned into scrap metal.

"Welcome back Castellan, Vitani." Clarisse nodded before turning to Percy with a glare. "YOU RUINED EVERYTHING! I had everything completely under control until you came along! Percy, don't ever, EVER try saving me again!"

"Clarisse, you've got wounded campers." Annabeth reminded.

"Clarisse, go check on the campers, I'll be there soon to help." Vitani said gently, soothing the daughter of Ares.

Clarisse softened a bit. "I'll be back!" She then trudged off to assess the damage.

Percy then saw his friend Tyson and said in awe and confusion, "You didn't die."

Luke looked at Tyson and did a double take. "How did you cross the barrier?"

"My fault," Annabeth said. "I had no choice. I had to let Tyson cross the boundary line to save Percy. Otherwise, he would've died."

"Let him cross the boundary line?'" Percy asked. "But—"

"Percy," Vitani said, sneaking a side glance at Tyson. "Look at your friend closely... In the face. Ignore the Mist, and really look at him."

Percy sighed before he looked at his tall friend, he saw the mist disappear around his face area and that made Percy's eyes widen.

He saw Tyson had one eye. One large, calf-brown eye, right in the middle of his forehead, with thick lashes and big tears trickling down his cheeks on either side.

"Tyson," Percy stammered. "You're a ..."

"Cyclops," Annabeth said.

"A baby Cyclops." Vitani corrected her.

Annabeth nodded. "Yes, A baby, by the looks of him. Probably why he couldn't get past the boundary line as easily as the bulls. Tyson's one of the homeless orphans."

"One of the what?" Percy asked, confused.

"They're in almost all the big cities," Annabeth said distastefully. "They're ...mistakes, Percy. Children of nature spirits and gods ... Well, one god in particular, usually ... and they don't always come out right. No one wants them. They get tossed aside. They grow up wild on the streets. I don't know how this one found you, but he obviously likes you. We should take him to Chiron; let him decide what to do."

"But the fire. How—"

"He's a Cyclops." This time Luke answered. "They work the forges of the gods. They are immune to fire."

Percy just let his jaw drop at that, trying to figure out how he had never noticed that little fact about his tall friend.

Clarisse came back over and wiped the soot off her forehead. "They all are fine, Vitani. But we need to carry the wounded back to the Big House."

"Don't worry about that." Vitani said and turned to Windy, who was still floating beside her. "Windy, can you take all the wounded back to the Big House?"

Windy smiled and nodded. Everyone watched as the wounded floated gently towards the Big House.

"Thanks." Clarisse said. "Anyway, I am going to big house; let Tantalus know what happened."

"Tantalus?" Percy asked, while Vitani and Luke narrowed their eyes.

"The activities director." Clarisse said impatiently.

"Chiron is the activities director. And where's Argus? He's head of security. He should be here." Luke said, looking around.

Clarisse made a sour face. "Argus got fired. You four have been gone too long. Things are changing."

"But Chiron ... He's trained kids to fight monsters for over three thousand years. He can't just be gone. What happened?" Vitani asked.

"That happened," Clarisse snapped, pointing to Thalia's tree.

Thalia's spirit had reinforced the magical borders of the camp, protecting it from the monsters. The pine had been here ever since, strong and healthy.

But now, its needles were yellow. A huge pile of dead ones littered the base of the tree. In the centre of the trunk, three feet from the ground, was a puncture mark the size of a bullet hole, oozing green sap.

Annabeth and Luke both gave out strangled gasps, before rage filled Luke's features.

"Who?  **Who would dare poison Thalia's Tree?!** " Luke demanded, seething in rage.

"No one knows." Clarisse said, wincing slightly from Luke's glare.

 


	8. Chapter 8

Looking at Camp, things didn't look different. The Big House was still there with its blue gabled roof and its wrap-around porch. The strawberry fields still baked in the sun. The same white-columned Greek buildings were scattered around the valley—the amphitheatre, the combat arena, the dining pavilion overlooking Long Island Sound. And nestled between the woods and the creek were the same cabins—a crazy assortment of thirteen buildings, each representing a different Olympian god.

But there was an air of danger now. Like something was wrong. Instead of playing volleyball in the sand-pit, counsellors and satyrs were stockpiling weapons in the tool shed. Dryads armed with bows and arrows talked nervously at the edge of the woods. The forest looked sickly, the grass in the meadow was pale yellow, and the fire marks on Half-Blood Hill stood out like ugly scars.

As Percy, Vitani, Luke, Annabeth, and Tyson made their way to the Big House; they recognized a lot of kids from last summer. Nobody stopped to talk. Nobody said, "Welcome back." Some did double takes when they saw Tyson, but most just walked grimly past and carried on with their duties—running messages, toting swords to sharpen on the grinding wheels. The camp felt like a military school.

None of that mattered to Tyson. He was absolutely fascinated by everything he saw.

"What's that!" He gasped.

"The stables for Pegasi." Percy said. "The winged horses."

"What's that?"

"Um... Those are the toilets."

"What's that?"

"The cabins for the campers. If they don't know who your Olympian parent is, they put you in the Hermes cabin—that brown one over there—until you're determined. Then, once they know, they put you in your dad or mom's group."

He looked at Percy in awe. "You ... have a cabin?"

"Number three." Percy pointed to a low grey building made of sea stone.

"You live with friends in the cabin?"

"No. No, just me." Percy said. He didn't know how he was going to explain him. Thalia and him were the big Three's children, whom wasn't supposed to be born.

Thalia had gotten herself turned into a pine tree when she was twelve.

When they got to the Big House, they found Chiron in his apartment, listening to his favourite

1960s lounge music while he packed his saddlebags. He was a centaur after all. From the waist up he looks like a regular middle-aged guy with curly brown hair and a scraggly beard. From the waist down, he's a white stallion.

As soon as they saw him, Tyson froze. "Pony!" He cried in total rapture.

Chiron turned, looking offended. "I beg your pardon?"

Luke stifled his laughter.

Annabeth ran up and hugged him. "Chiron, what's happening? You're not ... leaving?" Her voice was shaky. Chiron was like a second father to her.

Chiron ruffled her hair and gave her a kind smile. "Hello, child. And Percy, my goodness. You've grown over the year! Vitani, you look as beautiful as ever, and Luke it's good to see you again!"

"It's good to see you too, Chiron." Luke smiled.

"Thank you, Chiron, it's been a while." Vitani said, smiling slightly.

"Vitani, do you think there's anything you can do for Thalia's tree?" Chiron asked hopefully.

"I'm not sure if I can cure it, I'm not a potions master, nor do I work with poisons often." Vitani replied sadly.

"Well, worth a try I suppose." Chiron sighed.

"Clarisse said you were fired." Luke said.

Chiron nodded.

Percy asked. "But why?"

Chiron's eyes glinted with dark humour. "Someone had to take the blame. Lord Zeus was most upset. The tree he'd created from the spirit of his daughter, poisoned! Mr. D had to punish someone."

"But this is crazy!" Annabeth cried. "Chiron, you couldn't have had anything to do with poisoning Thalia's tree!"

"Nevertheless," Chiron sighed, "some in Olympus do not trust me now, under the circumstances."

"What circumstances?" Luke asked.

Chiron's face darkened. He stuffed a Latin-English dictionary into his saddlebag while the Frank Sinatra music oozed from his boom box.

Tyson was still staring at Chiron in amazement. He whimpered like he wanted to pat Chiron's flank but was afraid to come closer. "Pony?"

Chiron sniffed. "My dear young Cyclops! I am a centaur."

"Chiron." Percy said, "Then we know who's responsible. Kro—"

"Do not invoke the titan lord's name, Percy. Especially not here, not now."

"But last summer he tried to cause a civil war in Olympus! This has to be his idea. He'd get Ethan to do it, that traitor!"

"Perhaps," Chiron admitted. "But I fear I am being held responsible because I did not prevent it and I cannot cure it. The tree has only a few weeks of life left unless ..."

"Unless what?" Annabeth asked.

"No." Chiron said. "A foolish thought."

"Thalia's tree is a source of power and it's poisoned." Vitani explained. "Now, the whole valley is feeling the shock of the poison. The magical borders are deteriorating. The camp itself is dying."

Chiron said, "Only one source of magic would be strong enough to reverse the poison, and it was lost centuries ago."

"What is it?" Percy asked. "We'll go find it!"

Luke and Annabeth readily agreed with him.

Chiron closed his saddlebag. He pressed the stop button on his boom box. Then he turned and rested his hand on Percy shoulder, looking him straight in the eyes, he said, "Percy, you must promise me that you will not act rashly. It's much too dangerous. But stay here now. Train hard. Learn to fight. But do not leave."

"Why?" Percy asked. "I want to do something! I can't just let the borders fail. The whole camp will be—"

"Overrun by monsters," Chiron said. "Yes, I fear so. But you must not let yourself be baited into hasty action! This could be a trap of the titan lord. Remember last summer!"

* * *

The sun was setting behind the dining pavilion as the campers came up from their cabins. Percy and Tyson were standing in the shadow of a marble column and watching campers file in.

Annabeth was still pretty shaken up. She was with her siblings from the Athena cabin—a dozen boys and girls with blond hair and grey eyes like hers. Annabeth wasn't the oldest, but she'd been at camp more summers than just about anybody, so no one questioned her right to lead the line.

Next came Clarisse, leading the Ares cabin. She had one arm in a sling and a nasty-looking gash on her cheek, but otherwise her encounter with the bronze bulls didn't seem to faze her. Someone had taped a piece of paper to her back that said,  _YOU MOO, GIRL!_ But nobody in her cabin was bothering to tell her about it.

After the Ares kids came the Hephaestus cabin—six guys led by Charles Beckendorf, a big fifteen-year-old African American kid. He had hands the size of catchers' mitts and a face that was hard and squint from looking into a blacksmith forge all day. He was a nice guy, but no one ever called him Charlie or Chuck or Charles. Most just called him Beckendorf. He could make anything. Give him a chunk of metal and he could create a razor-sharp sword or a robotic warrior or a singing birdbath for your grandmother's garden. Whatever you wanted.

The other cabins filed in: Demeter, Apollo, Aphrodite, and Dionysus. Naiads came up from the canoe lake. Dryads melted out of the trees. From the meadow came a dozen satyrs.

After the satyrs filed in to dinner, the Hermes cabin brought up the rear. They were always the biggest cabin. The group was led in by Luke, who had a grim expression on his handsome face.

As soon as the last campers had filed in, Percy led Tyson into the middle of the pavilion.

"Who invited that?" Somebody from the Apollo table murmured, when they saw Tyson.

Percy glared in their direction, but he couldn't figure out who'd spoken.

From the head table a familiar voice drawled, "Well, well, if it isn't Peter Johnson. My millennium is complete."

Percy gritted my teeth. "Percy Jackson ... sir."

Mr. D sipped his Diet Coke. "Yes. Well, as you young people say these days: Whatever."

He was wearing his usual leopard-pattern Hawaiian shirt, walking shorts, and tennis shoes with black socks. With his pudgy belly and his blotchy red face, he looked like a Las Vegas tourist who'd stayed up too late in the casinos. Behind him, a nervous-looking satyr was peeling the skins off the grapes and handing them to Mr. D one at a time.

"Sorry I'm late!" Vitani said, hurrying in.

"Oh, Miss Vitani, I see you're back from your trip with Castellan. Welcome back." Mr. D said, he had grown slightly fond of the daughter of Hecate when she charmed everything he drank to taste like his favourite wines. Zeus had yet to find out about it.

"Thank you, Mr. D." Vitani nodded, but Mr. D just waved her off in a casual manner.

Next to him, where Chiron usually sat, was a pale, horribly thin man in a threadbare orange prisoner's jumpsuit. The number over his pocket read 0001. He had blue shadows under his eyes, dirty fingernails, and badly cut grey hair, like his last haircut had been done with a weed whacker. Percy noticed he was staring at him; it made him nervous, because he looked ... fractured. Angry and frustrated and hungry all at the same time.

"This boy," Dionysus said to the man, pointing to Percy, "you need to watch. Poseidon's child, you know."

"Ah!" The man said. "That one."

His tone made it obvious that he and Dionysus had already discussed about Percy at length.

"I am Tantalus," The man said, smiling coldly. "On special assignment here until, well, until my Lord Dionysus decides otherwise. And you, Perseus Jackson, I do expect you to refrain from causing any more trouble."

"Trouble?" Percy demanded.

Dionysus snapped his fingers. A newspaper appeared on the table—the front page of today's New York Post, There was Percy's yearbook picture from Meriwether Prep with the headline: Thirteen-Year-Old Lunatic Torches Gymnasium.

"Yes, trouble," Tantalus said with satisfaction. "You caused plenty of it last summer, I understand."

Percy was too mad to speak, and Vitani narrowed her eyes, fingering her wand.

A satyr inched forward nervously and set a plate of barbecue in front of Tantalus. The new activities director licked his lips. He looked at his empty goblet and said, "Root beer. Barq's special stock. 1967."

The glass filled itself with foamy soda. Tantalus stretched out his hand hesitantly, as if he were afraid the goblet was hot.

"Go on, then, old fellow." Dionysus said a strange sparkle in his eyes. "Perhaps now it will work."

Tantalus grabbed for the glass, but it scooted away before he could touch it. A few drops of root beer spilled, and Tantalus tried to dab them up with his fingers, but the drops rolled away like quicksilver before he could touch them. He growled and turned toward the plate of barbecue. He picked up a fork and tried to stab a piece of brisket, but the plate skittered down the table and flew off the end, straight into the coals of the brazier.

"Blast!" Tantalus muttered.

"Ah, well." Dionysus said, his voice dripping with false sympathy. "Perhaps a few more days. Believe me, old chap; working at this camp will be torture enough. I'm sure your old curse will fade eventually."

"Eventually." Muttered Tantalus, staring at Dionysus's Diet Coke. "Do you have any idea how dry one's throat gets after three thousand years?"

"You're that spirit from the Fields of Punishment," Percy said. "The one who stands in the lake with the fruit tree hanging over you, but you can't eat or drink."

Tantalus sneered at him. "A real scholar, aren't you, boy?"

"You must've done something really horrible when you were alive," Percy said, mildly impressed. "What was it?"

Tantalus' eyes narrowed. Behind him, the satyrs were shaking their heads vigorously, trying to warn Percy.

"I'll be watching you, Percy Jackson," Tantalus said. "I don't want any problems at my camp."

"Your camp has problems already ... sir."

"Oh, go sit down, Johnson," Dionysus sighed.

Percy sighed, "Come on, Tyson."

"Oh, no." Tantalus said. "The monster stays here. We must decide what to do with it."

Vitani glared at the prisoner.

"Him." Percy snapped. "His name is Tyson."

The new activities director raised an eyebrow.

"He helped me to save the camp." Percy said. "He pounded one bronze bull. Otherwise they would've burned down this whole place. "

"Yes," Tantalus sighed, "and  _what_  a pity that would've been."

Dionysus snickered.

"Leave us," Tantalus ordered, "while we decide this creature's fate."

Percy gritted his teeth at the order, but he knew he could not disobey it.

"I'll be right over here, big guy," Percy promised. "Don't worry. We'll find you a good place to sleep tonight."

Tyson nodded. "I believe you. You are my friend."

With that Percy trudged over his table where he was the only one to sit there. He hoped things would be okay for his Cyclops friend. When a Wood Nymph brought over some food, he took it, but he wasn't hungry. He was too busy thinking about what had happened so far. But before he let it go to waste. He scraped some of it into the flames to off some to his dad.

"Poseidon," Percy murmured, "accept my offering."

 _'And send me some help while you're at it,'_ He prayed silently.  _'Please.'_

The smoke from the burning pizza changed into something fragrant— the smell of a clean sea breeze with wildflowers mixed in.

He went back to his seat. He didn't think things could get much worse. But then Tantalus had one of the satyrs' blows the conch horn to get their attention for announcements.

Dionysus clapped politely, leading to some half-hearted applause from the satyrs. Tyson was still standing at the head table, looking uncomfortable, but every time he tried to scoot out of the limelight, Tantalus pulled him back.

"And now some changes!" Tantalus gave the campers a crooked smile. "We are reinstating the chariot races!"

Murmuring broke out at all the tables—excitement, fear, and disbelief.

"Now I know," Tantalus continued, raising his voice, "that these races were discontinued some years ago due to, ah, technical problems."

"Three deaths and twenty-six mutilations." Someone at the Apollo table called out.

"Yes, yes!" Tantalus said. "But I know that you will all join me in welcoming the return of this camp tradition. Golden laurels will go to the winning charioteers each month. Teams may register in the morning! The first race will be held in three days' time. We will release you from most of your regular activities to prepare your chariots and choose your horses. Oh, and did I mention, the victorious team's cabin will have no chores for the month in which they win?"

An explosion of excited conversation—

"No KP for a whole month?"

"No stable cleaning?"

"Was he serious?"

"But, sir!" Clarisse objected. She looked nervous, but she stood up to speak from the Ares table. Some of the campers snickered when they saw the  _YOU MOO, GIRL!_  sign on her back. "What about patrol duty?"

"I'll set up some barriers to keep the monsters out after dinner, Clarisse." Vitani assured.

Clarisse, along with nearly every other camper, sent a thankful smile in her direction and sat back in her seat. Luke looked extremely proud of his girlfriend as well.

"Very well," Tantalus said, after he recovered from his shock. "But before we proceed to the campfire and sing-along, one slight housekeeping issue. Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase have seen fit, for some reason, to bring  _this_  here." He waved a hand toward Tyson.

Uneasy murmuring spread among the campers and many campers sent sideways looks at Percy.

"Now, of course," he said, "Cyclopes has a reputation for being bloodthirsty monsters with a very small brain capacity. Under normal circumstances, I would release this beast into the woods and have you hunt it down with torches and pointed sticks. But who knows? Perhaps this Cyclops is not as horrible as most of its brethren. Until it proves worthy of destruction, we need a place to keep it! I've thought about the stables, but that will make the horses nervous. Hermes's cabin, possibly?"

Silence at the Hermes table, Luke looked hesitant, and Percy couldn't blame him.

"Come now," Tantalus chided. "The monster may be able to do some menial chores. Any suggestions as to where such a beast should be kennelled?"

Just as Vitani was about to offer Tyson a place in her cabin, everybody gasped.

Tantalus scooted away from Tyson in surprise. There above Tyson's head was the same symbol that was above Percy's head last year. The Symbol of Poseidon.

There was a moment of awed silence.

Being claimed was a rare event. Some campers waited in vain for it their whole lives. When Percy had been claimed by their Godly parents last summer, everyone had reverently knelt. But now, they followed Tantalus' lead, and Tantalus roared with laughter. "Well! I think we know where to put the beast now. By the gods, I can see the family resemblance!"

Everyone laughed except for Percy, Annabeth, Vitani, Luke and a few of their friends.

Tyson didn't seem to notice. He was too mystified, trying to swat the glowing trident that was now fading over his head. He was too innocent to understand how much they were making fun of him, how cruel people were.

* * *

As promised, Vitani stood in the middle of the camp with her Elder wand pointing straight into the sky.

Everyone watched in awe as she waved her wand in intense concentration, a myriad of colourful lights shot from her wand and flickered across the sky, forming a translucent barrier that slowly encompassed the camp in a dome like fashion.

When the barrier was finished, Vitani sighed in relief.

"Percy, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to test the barrier. Can you stand right outside to attract a monster? As a child of the big three, you have the strongest scent." Vitani asked.

Percy nodded.

"Ares cabin, are you ready?" Vitani asked, having healed every one of them, including Clarisse's arm and cheek, right after dinner.

The sons and daughters of Ares roared in confirmation, raising their weapons and heading in front of the group of campers, who also armed themselves.

Percy uncapped Riptide and walked out a few feet from the barrier. It didn't take longer than a minute for a Hellhound and a Black scorpion to appear. Percy waited for them to get close before running back behind the barrier where the Ares cabin got ready.

It wasn't necessary however, when the Hellhound and the Black scorpion tried to get pass the barrier, they ended up bouncing right off it, being thrown away several feet.

The campers watched in elation as the two continued to try and break in, but Vitani's barrier held strong and they continued to be thrown away. When the two monsters trudged off in defeat, the entire camp cheered and mobbed the witch.

"You did it!"

"Thank you!"

"We're safe!"

"How long will the barrier last?" Mr. D said, cutting into the celebration.

"The barrier is good for now, but the best solution is to find a cure for Thalia's tree. The forest and the land around here is still dying. This barrier, I'm sorry to day, is just a temporary solution at best." Vitani answered sullenly.

"Very well then, good job, Miss Vitani." Mr. D nodded.

"I say there isn't a need for a barrier at all, if these kids get killed, then good riddance. In fact, we should just burn you like the witches in the old days." Tantalus sneered.

Luke was already unsheathing his sword, ready to slice Tantalus open for what he had said to Vitani. He looked positively livid, many of the campers did in fact, including Clarisse, Annabeth, Percy, and the Stoll twins.

Before either Luke or the rest of Vitani's friends could do anything however, a hand clasped around his throat.

"Listen here you waste of space, I can't tolerate people like you." Vitani snarled as Tantalus choked.

No one, not even Mr. D (who didn't really care), wanted to get in her way. In fact, many of the campers were silently cheering her on, especially Luke who grinned darkly.

"You talk like that again, and I'll personally transfigure you into a pathetic little fish and feed you to the sharks, understand me? Not being able to eat will be the least of your worries then!" Vitani spat angrily, pressing the tip of her wand to the underside of Tantalus' chin, tilting his head up.

"Y-Yes—!" Tantalus gasped out.

"Good..." Vitani said, letting go of Tantalus and smiling so sweetly that it made everyone wary.

Before Tantalus could say anything else however, he was shot back by a black light. Everyone turned to see Vitani with her wand out, pointing at Tantalus, smirking smugly.

"What did you do to me?" Tantalus demanded as he picked himself off the ground with a groan.

"You'll see." Vitani smirked, looking positively evil. She then walked off. Luke shot Tantalus one last dark glare before heading off after his girlfriend.

"Whoa. Remind me to never make her mad..." Travis said, amazed yet slightly scared as he stared after her.

"She'd probably turn you into a toad." Connor laughed.


	9. Chapter 9

The next few days were spent working on the chariots. Annabeth and Percy teamed up, along with Vitani and Luke.

Not to mention everyone kept making fun of Percy because of Tyson. The only people who had no problems the cyclops was Vitani and Beckendorf from the Hephaestus Cabin.

Luke was still wary around Tyson, but softened slightly when he saw Tyson playing happily with Loki, who seemed to adore the baby cyclops and constantly rubbed against him for attention.

And everyone also had found out what curse Vitani had placed on Tantalus, it turns out that Tantalus would hear various food commercials throughout the day, all day, with the mental images to accompany them.

When Tantalus heard the McDonald's slogan 'I'm lovin' it' for the 50th time that day, he broke down in tears as the mental image of a Quarter Pounder Cheese Burger was so vivid that he could almost taste it.

The curse also haunted his dreams, where monster foods such as a giant sub sandwich with big olive eyes and red tomato teeth chased him, trying to eat him.

* * *

The morning of the race was hot and humid. Fog lay low on the ground like sauna steam. Thousands of birds were roosting in the trees—fat grey-and-white pigeons, except they didn't coo like regular pigeons. They made this annoying metallic screeching sound that reminded them of submarine radar.

There were rows of stone steps for the spectators— Tantalus, the satyrs, a few dryads, and all of the campers who weren't participating. Mr. D didn't show. He never got up before ten o'clock.

"Right!" Tantalus announced as the teams began to assemble. A naiad had brought him a big platter of pastries, and as Tantalus spoke, his right hand chased a chocolate eclair across the judge's table. "You all know the rules. A quarter-mile track. Twice around to win. Two horses per chariot. Each team will consist of a driver and a fighter. Weapons are allowed. Dirty tricks are expected. But try not to kill anybody!" Tantalus smiled at them like they were all naughty children. "Any killing will result in harsh punishment. No s'mores at the campfire for a week! Now ready your chariots!"

 _'No S'mores for a week? What a **harsh**  punishment.' _Vitani thought, rolling her eyes.

Beckendorf led the Hephaestus team onto the track. They had a sweet ride made of bronze and iron—even the horses, which were magical automatons like the Colchis bulls. They had no doubt that their chariot had all kinds of mechanical traps and more fancy options than a fully loaded Maserati.

Annabeth and Percy had their own chariots, they had gotten into an argument earlier which led them to split up as a team. Percy was now with Tyson and Annabeth with a boy from her own cabin.

Vitani's and Luke's chariot ended up looking the most interesting. It was midnight blue and had a large golden star on the front. The chariot looked like it was made from the night sky, as the smaller stars that patterned the chariot actually twinkled and occasionally one could see a shooting star fly across the flank. Another thing was that it had no wheels, and the horses pulling them looked extremely intimidating. They had a skeletal body, face with reptilian features, and wide, leathery wings that resemble a bat's. But the thing was, not everybody could see them.

"What's pulling your chariot?" Percy asked, furrowing his brows.

"You can't see them?" Annabeth asked, looking pale due to their somewhat grim, gaunt and ghostly appearance.

Many of the other campers were confused as well, most of the campers seemed to see nothing, but a few claimed that something was indeed there, including Clarisse.

"They're called Thestrals, and they can only be seen by those who had seen death." Vitani answered, making everyone pale. Luke nodded and stroked one of the Thestral's snouts.

Apollo's chariot was trim and graceful and completely gold, pulled by two beautiful palominos. Their fighter was armed with a bow, though he had promised not to shoot regular pointed arrows at the opposing drivers.

Hermes's chariot was green and kind of old-looking, as if it hadn't been out of the garage in years. It didn't look like anything special, but it was manned by the Stoll brothers, both who had mischievous grins etched on their faces.

"Charioteers!" Tantalus announced. "To your mark!"

When all the chariots were in place, Luke frowned at the birds.

"How did they get past your barrier?" Luke asked.

"They must've already been inside the barrier, because nothing came through it, otherwise I would've known!" Vitani said, frowning as well.

"Well, the Stymphalian birds won't bother us unless they're provoked, so we should be fine." Luke said.

"How is your chariot supposed to move, it doesn't have wheels." Beckendorf asked, confused.

"Like this." Vitani smirked and snapped her fingers.

Everyone gaped when her chariot suddenly had levitated a foot off the ground with a white cloud rolling underneath it.

"I should've known..." Annabeth said dryly while Luke and Vitani had identical grins.

As the chariots lined up, more shiny-eyed pigeons gathered in the woods. They were screeching so loudly the campers in the stands were starting to take notice, glancing nervously at the trees, which shivered under the weight of the birds. Many whispered on how the birds could've gotten past the new barrier, but a few of the Athena cabin concluded that they must've already been inside the camp when the barrier was erected, as a few campers had tested the barrier every day just in case, but the barrier held true. Tantalus didn't look concerned, but he did have to speak up to be heard over the noise.

"Charioteers!" he shouted. "Attend your mark!"

He waved his hand and the starting signal dropped. The chariots roared to life. Hooves thundered against the dirt, and the crowd cheered.

Almost immediately there was a loud nasty  _crack!_ The Apollo chariot flipped over. The Hermes chariot had rammed into it—maybe by mistake, maybe not.

The riders were thrown free, but their panicked horses dragged the golden chariot diagonally across the track. The Hermes team, Travis and Connor Stoll, were laughing at their good luck, but not for long. The Apollo horses crashed into theirs, and the Hermes chariot flipped too, leaving a pile of broken wood and four rearing horses in the dust.

Two chariots down in the first twenty feet.

Luke's and Vitani's chariot was gliding smoothly along the track, not a single bump. Vitani decided to drive, much to the relief of the others since they shivered on what spells she could've used to win, so that left Luke with the fighting. He was wielding a blunted javelin, and was scarily good with it.

Thanks to Vitani's expert control on the Thestrals and the versatility of the mobility of their chariot, along with Luke's incredible skills with a javelin, they weaved through the other chariots with ease and quickly pulled into the lead with Annabeth's chariot right behind them.

"Athena always has a plan!" Annabeth smirked, her javelin man then took out a hooked spear and tried to grapple their chariot.

Luke just smirked smugly in return and parried off the hooked spear before he took a black rock from a small compartment.

"Vitani, code black!" Luke called out, pulling on a pair of goggles.

"Right!" Vitani smirked, putting on a pair of goggles as well.

Luke then threw the black rock on the track, and instantly a thick black smoke covered the track. No light seemed to be able to penetrate it.

Percy's and Annabeth's chariots steered out of control and their horses panicked from the lack of sight and the total darkness.

"Damn it!" Annabeth cursed, trying to get her horses back under her control.

Luke and Vitani grinned as they were halfway through their last lap.

Then they heard the screaming.

The pigeons were swarming—thousands of them dive-bombing the spectators in the stands, attacking the other chariots. Beckendorf was mobbed. His fighter tried to bat the birds away but he couldn't see anything. The chariot veered off course and ploughed through the strawberry fields, the mechanical horses steaming.

In the Ares chariot, Clarisse barked an order to her fighter, who quickly threw a screen of camouflage netting over their basket. The birds swarmed around it, pecking and clawing at the fighter's hands as he tried to hold up the net, but Clarisse just gritted her teeth and kept driving. Her skeletal horses seemed immune to the distraction. The pigeons pecked uselessly at their empty eye sockets and flew through their rib cages, but the stallions kept right on running.

The spectators weren't so lucky. The birds were slashing at any bit of exposed flesh, driving everyone into a panic. Now that the birds were closer, it was clear they weren't normal pigeons. Their eyes were beady and evil-looking. Their beaks were made of bronze, and judging from the yelps of the campers, they must've been razor sharp.

"Damn!" Vitani cursed. "Luke, switch with me!"

"Got it!" Luke said, taking the reigns as Vitani pulled out her star wand.

"Shield, protect the campers in the stands!" Vitani commanded, and a clear orange dome appeared over the campers in the stands, making them sigh in relief as the birds tried to get through but didn't even put a scratch on the barrier. "Arrow, shoot the birds!"

A smallish pink girl appeared, wearing a bluish-purple outfit consisting of shorts, top with long back tails, long gloves, and long boots topped with balls on the foot, with a pudding basin haircut, a red circular gem on her hair, and two long pigtails held by balls. She then held up her small bow and shot out a continuous stream of magical arrows that hit their mark perfectly.

"Vitani!" Luke called out, jerking his head before them.

Another swarm of the birds were flying towards them.

"Immobulus!" The birds then froze in mid air, letting Luke drive the chariot by them without trouble.

Just as they crossed the finish line with Clarisse right behind them, they heard music of guys moaning in Italian.

"Now!" Annabeth called out. "Archers!"

In moments with the help of Vitani's Arrow spirit and the Apollo cabin, all the birds laid dead and littered the ground.

The camp was saved, but the wreckage wasn't pretty. Most of the chariots had been completely destroyed. The only one that remained unscathed was Luke's and Vitani's chariot.

Almost everyone was wounded, bleeding from multiple bird pecks. The kids from Aphrodite's cabin were screaming because their hairdos had been ruined and their clothes pooped on.

"Bravo!" Tantalus said. "We have our first winner! The winners of this face is Clarisse!" He walked to the finish line and awarded the golden laurels to a stunned looking Clarisse.

Vitani and Luke scowled, but softened when Clarisse tried to protest. They then shrugged to each other. They won and most, if not all, the campers knew it, even if Tantalus didn't want to acknowledge this fact. He held a grudge for what Vitani had done to him, glaring at her when the curse wore off.

"But I didn't-" Clarisse protested but was cut off by Tantalus.

"No need to be modest, dear girl!" Tantalus said, holding his hand up before shoot a malicious smirk to Vitani, Annabeth and Percy. Luke and Vitani clenched their fists.

"And now to punish the troublemakers who disrupted this race."

"This is unnecessary." Vitani said, speaking up.

"What?" Tantalus shouted, but he took a few steps back when Vitani narrowed hers eyes at him.

"They helped save the camp. They used music to scare the Pigeons away, just like Hercules did with his brass bells." Luke explained. "So you can't punish heroes."

Most of the campers agreed with him.

Tantalus gritted his teeth.

Annabeth smiled. "Thank you," she mouthed silently, Luke and Vitani gave her and Percy a thumbs up in return.

Then all those who were injured were sent to the infirmary. Vitani helped the Apollo cabin with the healing by providing large jars of a wound cleaning potion and Dittany while healing the large gashes herself.

* * *

"The Golden Fleece," Percy said just after dinner when everyone was roasting marshmallows. "We know where it is."

The flames burned orange. Before Tantalus could stop him, Percy blurted out his dream about Grover and Polyphemus' island. Annabeth stepped in and reminded everybody what the Fleece could do. It sounded more convincing coming from her.

"The Fleece can save the camp." She concluded. "I'm certain of it."

"Nonsense." said Tantalus. "We don't need saving. Besides, witch girl already has a barrier around the camp if you've forgotten!"

"But that's only a temporary fix!" Vitani protested. "I told you that curing Thalia's tree would be the best solution! Look around you, the camp is still dying!"

Everybody stared at him until Tantalus started looking uncomfortable.

"Besides," He added quickly, ignoring Vitani's outburst, making the girl finger her wand and bristle in anger. "the Sea of Monsters? That's hardly an exact location. You wouldn't even know where to look."

"Yes, I would." Percy said.

Annabeth leaned toward him and whispered, "You would?"

Percy nodded, because Annabeth had jogged something in his memory when she reminded him about our taxi drive with the Gray Sisters. At the time, the information they'd given him made no sense. But now...

"30, 31, 75, 12." Percy said.

Vitani and Luke brightened at the numbers.

"Ooo-kay," Tantalus said, rolling his eyes. "Thank you for sharing those meaningless numbers."

"They're sailing coordinates." Percy explained. "Latitude and longitude. I, uh, learned about it in social studies."

Annabeth looked impressed. "30 degrees, 31 minutes north, 75 degrees, 12 minutes west. He's right! The Gray Sisters gave us those coordinates. That'd be somewhere in the Atlantic, off the coast of Florida. The Sea of Monsters. We need a quest!"

"Wait just a minute!" Tantalus said, protesting.

But the campers took up the chant. "We need a quest! We need a quest!"

The flames rose higher.

"It isn't necessary!" Tantalus insisted.

"WE NEED A QUEST! WE NEED A QUEST!"

"Fine!" Tantalus shouted, his eyes blazing with anger. "You brats want me to assign a quest?"

"YES!"

"Very well," he agreed. "I shall authorize a champion to undertake this perilous journey, to retrieve the Golden Fleece and bring it back to camp. Or die trying. I will allow our champion to consult the Oracle!" Tantalus announced. "And choose two companions for the journey. And I think the choice of champion is obvious."

Tantalus looked at Annabeth and Percy as if he wanted to flay them alive.

"The champion should be one who has earned the camp's respect, who has proven resourceful in the chariot races and courageous in the defense of the camp!"

Everyone looked at Vitani and Luke, knowing that they were the ones who truly won the chariot race and that Vitani made the barriers that protected the camp, but Tantalus' champion choice surprised nearly everyone.

" _You_ shall lead this quest ... Clarisse!"

The fire flickered a thousand different colours. The Ares cabin started stomping and cheering, "CLARISSE! CLARISSE!"

Clarisse stood up, looking stunned. Then she swallowed, and her chest swelled with pride. "I accept the quest!"

"Wait!" Percy shouted. "Grover is my friend. The dream came to  _me."_

"Sit down!" Yelled one of the Ares campers. "You had your chance last summer!"

"Yeah, he just wants to be in the spotlight again!" Another said.

Clarisse glared at Percy.

"I accept the quest!" she repeated. "I, Clarisse, daughter of Ares, will save the camp!"

The Ares campers cheered even louder. Annabeth protested, and the other Athena campers joined in.

"But Luke and Vitani are the strongest in the camp! They should go!" Connor Stoll shouted, the rest of the Hermes cabin agreed with him and started yelling in protest.

Soon everybody else started taking sides—shouting and arguing and throwing marshmallows. It was going to turn into a full-fledged s'more war until Tantalus shouted, "Silence, you brats!"

His tone surprise many of the campers, even Percy and Vitani.

"Sit down!" he ordered. "And I will tell you a ghost story."

They didn't know what he was up to, but they all moved reluctantly back to their seats. The evil aura radiating from Tantalus was as strong.

"Once upon a time there was a mortal king who was loved by the Gods!" Tantalus put his hand on his chest, and everyone got the feeling he was talking about himself.

"This king," he said, "was even allowed to feast on Mount Olympus. But when he tried to take some ambrosia and nectar back to earth to figure out the recipe—just one little doggie bag, mind you—the gods punished him.

They banned him from their halls forever! His own people mocked him! His children scolded him! And, oh yes, campers, he had horrible children. Children—just—like— you."

He pointed a crooked finger at several people in the audience, especially at Percy and Vitani.

"Do you know what he did to his ungrateful children?" Tantalus asked softly. "Do you know how he paid back the gods for their cruel punishment? He invited the Olympians to a feast at his palace, just to show there were no hard feelings. No one noticed that his children were missing. And when he served the gods dinner, my dear campers, can you guess what was in the stew?"

No one dared answer. The firelight glowed dark blue, reflecting evilly on Tantalus's crooked face.

"Oh, the gods punished him in the afterlife," Tantalus croaked. "They did indeed. But he'd had his moment of satisfaction, hadn't he? His children never again spoke back to him or questioned his authority. And do you know what? Rumour has it that the king's spirit now dwells at this very camp, waiting for a chance to take revenge on ungrateful, rebellious children. And so ... are there any more complaints, before we send Clarisse off on her quest?"

Silence. Though Vitani gave the man a thoroughly disgusted look.

Tantalus nodded at Clarisse. "The Oracle, my dear. Go on."

She shifted uncomfortably, like even  _she_ didn't want glory at the price of being Tantalus's pet. "Sir—"

"Go!" he snarled.

She bowed awkwardly and hurried off toward the Big House.

"What about you, Percy Jackson?" Tantalus asked.

Percy didn't say anything. He wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of punishing him.

"Good," Tantalus said. "And let me remind everyone— no one leaves this camp without my permission. Anyone who tries ... well, if they survive the attempt, they will be expelled forever, but it won't come to that. The harpies will be enforcing curfew from now on, and they are always hungry! Good night, my dear campers. Sleep well."

With a wave of Tantalus's hand, the fire was extinguished, and the campers trailed off toward their cabins in the dark.


	10. Chapter 10

Both Vitani and Luke (who slept in Vitani's cabin on an occasion) were sleeping when they heard Percy call for help.

"Help! Someone please help!"

The two jolted out of bed and quickly dressed and armed themselves before running out of the cabin and towards the shore. They soon saw Tyson and Annabeth heading the same way, looking frantic.

"What happened?" Annabeth asked when she saw Percy, who was perfectly fine. "I heard you calling for help."

"Same here." Vitani agreed with Luke nodding along with her.

"Me, too!" Tyson said, looking worried. "I heard you say 'Bad things are attacking!'"

"I didn't call you guys." Percy said, confused. "I'm fine."

"But then who..." Annabeth said before spotting the 4 yellow duffel bags at his feet. "What-"

"Just listen, we don't have much time!" Percy said before explaining his conversation with Hermes, who had done this to try and make things up with Luke for being a horrible father. By the time he was finished, everyone could hear the patrol harpies screeching in the distance.

"Percy." Annabeth said. "We're going to have to do the quest!"

"We'll get expelled, you know. Trust me, I'm an expert at getting expelled."

"So? If we fail, there won't be any camp to come back to."

"Yeah, but you promised Chiron—"

"I promised I'd keep you from danger. I can only do that by coming with you! Tyson can stay behind and tell them—"

"I want to go." Tyson said.

"No!" Annabeth's voice sounded close to panic. "I mean... Percy, come on. You know that's impossible."

"I say let him come, he can help!" Vitani said, sticking up for Tyson, who smiled at her. "Accio!"

A familiar looking satchel bag flew towards the witch, who caught it and slung it over her shoulder.

Luke said nothing, looking hesitant and unsure, but slung one of the duffel bags over his shoulder anyways.

"We can't leave him." Percy decided. "Tantalus will punish him for us being gone."

"Percy," Annabeth said, trying to keep her cool, "we're going to Polyphemus' island! Polyphemus is an S-i-k ... a C-y-k . .."

She stamped her foot in frustration while Luke smiled, amused.

As smart as she was, Annabeth was dyslexic, too. They could've been there all night while she tried to spell Cyclops.

"You know what I mean!"

"Tyson can go," Percy insisted, "if he wants to."

Tyson clapped his hands. "Want to!"

Annabeth gave Percy the evil eye, but didn't argue seeing as they were short on time.

"All right," she said. "How do we get to that ship?"

"Hermes said my father would help."

"Well then, Seaweed Brain? What are you waiting for?"

"Urn, Dad?" Percy called. "How's it going?"

"Percy!" Vitani whispered. "We're in a hurry!"

"We need your help," Percy called a little louder. "We need to get to that ship, like, before we get eaten and stuff, so ..."

At first, nothing happened. Waves crashed against the shore like normal. The harpies sounded like they were right behind the sand dunes. Then, about a hundred yards out to sea, three white lines appeared on the surface. They moved fast toward the shore, like claws ripping through the ocean.

As they neared the beach, the surf burst apart and the heads of three white stallions reared out of the waves.

Tyson caught his breath. "Fish ponies!"

Vitani smiled and giggled at Tyson's description.

"Hippocampi!" Annabeth breathed. "They're beautiful."

The nearest one whinnied in appreciation and nuzzled Annabeth.

"We'll admire them later," Percy said. "Come on!"

"There!" A voice screeched behind them. "Bad children out of cabins! Snack time for lucky harpies!"

Five of them were fluttering over the top of the dunes—plump little hags with pinched faces and talons and feathery wings too small for their bodies.

They weren't very fast, thank the gods, but they were vicious if they caught you.

"Tyson!" Percy said. "Grab a duffel bag!"

He was still staring at the hippocampi with his mouth hanging open, "Tyson!"

"Uh?"

"Come on!"

With Annabeth's and Luke's help, Percy got him moving. Everyone gathered the bags and mounted our steeds. Luke and Vitani shared one, while Annabeth and Percy shared another. Poseidon must've known Tyson was one of the passengers, because one hippocampus was much larger than the other two—just right for carrying a Cyclops.

"Giddyup!" Percy said. His hippocampus turned and plunged into the waves. Luke's and Tyson's followed right behind.

The harpies cursed at them, wailing for their snacks to come back, but the hippocampi raced over the water at the speed of Jet Skis.

The harpies fell behind, and soon the shore of Camp Half-Blood was nothing but a dark smudge.

The cruise ship was now looming in front of them, their ride toward Florida and the Sea of Monsters.

They zipped along with the wind in our faces, speeding through the waves smoothly.

As they got closer to the cruise ship, they realized just how huge it was. The white hull was at least ten stories tall, topped with another dozen levels of decks with brightly lit balconies and portholes. The ship's name was painted just above the bow line in black letters, lit with a spotlight. It took everyone except Vitani a few seconds to decipher it: _PRINCESS ANDROMEDA._

Everyone was soon boarding the ship using a side ladder they saw, however Percy was having a little trouble convincing Tyson to leave the Hippocampus he was riding, who he had named Rainbow.

However, with the promise that Tyson would see Rainbow again soon, they had a tearful goodbye before Tyson boarded the ship.

They easily got passed the locked set of double doors with a quick unlocking charm, but was soon on guard when they didn't see anyone on the ship.

"It's a ghost ship." Percy murmured.

"No." Tyson said, fiddling with the strap of his duffel bag. "Bad smell."

"I don't smell anything." Luke frowned as Annabeth too tried to sniff the air.

"Cyclops are like satyrs." Percy said. "They can smell monsters, isn't that right Tyson?"

Tyson nodded nervously.

"Okay, what do you smell exactly?" Annabeth asked.

"Something bad." Tyson answered.

"Great." Annabeth grumbled. "That clears it up."

"Annabeth! Don't be so rude! At lease we have a warning." Vitani scolded as Percy looked gratefully at her.

No matter where they looked, there was no sign of life anywhere, and yet, there was a sense of danger in the air. But everyone was tired, and they weren't up to their usual standard of danger awareness.

"We need a hiding place, somewhere safe to sleep." Vitani said.

"Sleep." Annabeth agreed and Luke yawned.

The group explored a few more corridors before they found an empty open suite on the ninth level.

There was a basket of chocolate goodies on the table, an iced-down bottle of sparkling cider on the nightstand, and a mint on the pillow with a hand written note that said:  _Enjoy your cruise!_

They opened their duffel bags for the first time and found that Hermes really had thought of everything—extra clothes, toiletries, camp rations, a Ziploc bag full of cash, a leather pouch full of golden drachmas. He'd even managed to pack Tyson's oilcloth with his tools and metal bits, and Annabeth's cap of invisibility, which made them both feel a lot better.

Vitani was fine as she was always packed because her job as a curse breaker required her to travel a lot. She had her deluxe first aid kit, a wallet full of cash and a familiar looking golden credit card, changes of clothes, toiletries, a bag of golden galleons, a bag of golden drachma, her magic tent, a several cooler boxes full of food, and just about anything else you would need to travel.

Luke looked slightly impressed at Hermes' packing skills.

"Why did Hermes give this to me, and not Luke I wonder." Percy said, looking at the duffel bag thoughtfully.

"Remember, godly parents can't interfere directly, but he managed to find a loophole I guess by using you as the middle man." Annabeth said.

Percy nodded at the logic.

"Vitani and I will be next door. You guys don't drink or eat anything!" Annabeth ordered.

"But I want to stay with-" Luke was cut off by Annabeth's glare.

"Oh no you don't! The less rooms we use the better! So stay here!" Annabeth said with finality before stomping off. Vitani gave look and apologetic smile, giving him a kiss on the cheek before hurrying after the daughter of Athena.

Before everyone went to sleep, Vitani placed a few charms to keep those who were unwanted, out.

* * *

"Good morning, passengers! We'll be at sea all day today. Excellent weather for the poolside mambo party! Don't forget million-dollar bingo in the Kraken Lounge at one o'clock, and for our  _special guests,_ disemboweling practice on the Promenade!"

Percy and Luke shot up from the bed. "What did he say?"

Tyson groaned, still half asleep. He was lying facedown on the couch, his feet so far over the edge they were in the bathroom. "The happy man said ... bowling practice?"

Then there was an urgent knock on the suite's interior door. Annabeth stuck her head in—her blond hair in a rat's nest.

 _"Disemboweling_ practice?"

"We're leaving!" Vitani called from behind her, frantic.

Once everyone was all dressed, they were surprised to see other people on the deck by the pool. But something was horribly wrong, as they all acted soulless and without free will, kind of like moaning zombies.

When they passed a cafeteria, they saw their first monster, a Hellhound. It was smaller than most Hellhounds they had seen, and it was eating from a plate of scrambled eggs.

The five of them ducked into the nearest hiding place, which was the women's washroom.

"We have to get off this ship!" Annabeth said urgently with Tyson and Vitani agreeing with her.

Percy nodded, but before they could move, they all heard a familiar voice.

"—only a matter of time. Don't push me, Agrius!"

"Ethan!" Luke hissed and Percy glowered.

"I'm not pushing you!" Another guy growled. His voice was deeper and even angrier than Ethan's. "I'm just saying, if this gamble doesn't pay off-"

"It'll pay off!" Ethan snapped. "They'll take the bait. Now, come, we've got to get to the admiralty suite and check on the casket."

Luke looked alarmed at that, already suspecting what the casket was.

Their voices receded down the corridor.

"Leave now?" Tyson whimpered.

Vitani, Luke, Annabeth, and Percy exchanged looks and came to a silent agreement.

"We can't." Percy said to Tyson.

"We have to find out what Ethan is up to." Annabeth agreed. " And if possible, we're going to beat him up, bind him in chains, and drag him to Mount Olympus."

Vitani cast strong disillusionment charms on everyone except Annabeth, who had her invisibility cap. They then sneaked through the corridors all the way to the admiralty suite.

They then hid in a supply closet when two men came.

"You see that Aethiopian drakon in the cargo hold?" One of them said.

The other laughed. "Yeah, it's awesome."

"I hear they got two more coming," the familiar  _voice_ said. "They keep arriving at this rate, oh, man—no contest!"

The voices faded down the corridor.

"That was Chris Rodriguez!"

"Who?" Percy whispered questioningly.

"He's from Cabin 11, an undetermined camper." Luke said darkly. "I had wondered why I hadn't seen him this summer."

"Ethan must've done some recruiting..." Vitani said, clearly troubled. She and Chris used to be on good terms with each other.

"Guys." Annabeth stopped suddenly. "Look."

She stood in front of a glass wall looking down into the multistory canyon that ran through the middle of the ship. At the bottom was the Promenade—a mall full of shops— but that's not what had caught Annabeth's attention.

A group of monsters had assembled in front of the candy store: a dozen Laistrygonian giants like the ones who'd attacked me with dodge balls, two hellhounds, and a few even stranger creatures—humanoid females with twin serpent tails instead of legs.

"Scythian Dracaenae," Annabeth whispered. "Dragon women."

The monsters made a semicircle around a young guy in Greek armour who was hacking on a straw dummy. A lump formed in their throats when they realized the dummy was wearing an orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt. As they watched, the guy in armour stabbed the dummy through its belly and ripped upward. Straw flew everywhere. The monsters cheered and howled.

Annabeth stepped away from the window. Her face was ashen.

"Come on." Percy told her, trying to sound braver than he felt. "The sooner we find Ethan the better."

At the end of the hallway were double oak doors that looked like they must lead somewhere important.

When we were thirty feet away, Tyson stopped. "Voices inside."

"You can hear that far?" Luke asked.

Tyson then closed his eye, like he was concentrating hard. Then his voice changed, becoming a husky approximation of Ethan's.

"—the prophecy ourselves. The fools won't know which way to turn."

Before anyone could react, Tyson's voice changed again, becoming deeper and gruffer, like the other guy they had hear talking to Ethan outside the cafeteria.

"You really think the old horseman is gone for good?"

Tyson laughed Ethan's laugh. "They can't trust him. Not with the skeletons in  _his_ closet. The poisoning of the tree was the final straw."

Luke gritted his teeth while Annabeth shivered. "Stop that, Tyson! How do you do that? It's creepy!"

"Pretty useful talent..." Vitani said, impressed.

Tyson opened his eye, looking puzzled. "Just listening."

"Keep going." Percy urged. "What else are they saying?"

Tyson closed his eye again. He hissed the gruff man's voice: "Quiet!" Then Ethan's voice, whispering. "Are you sure?"

"Yes." Tyson repeated. "Right outside."

Everyone widened their eyes and turned to run, but Ethan burst through the door flanked by two hairy giants armed with javelins.

Before they could get away, one of the hair guys grabbed the air in front of him and managed to snag Annabeth's arm. Ethan walked over, he felt her body and easily determined that the invisible person was a girl. He then knew it was Annabeth and ripped off her cap, revealing her.

"I know the rest of you are there, reveal yourselves or she gets it." Ethan threatened, one of the hairy guys pointed the tip of their javelin to Annabeth's throat as she struggled against him.

Vitani and Luke backed away slowly, nodding to Percy who immediately understood. Vitani would reveal only Tyson and Percy, so Luke and Vitani could take the Ethan and his goons by surprise.

With a wave of her wand, Percy and Tyson were revealed.

"Well." Ethan said with a crooked smile. "If it isn't my two favourite cousins. How did you turn yourselves invisible like that?"

"Vitani. She charmed a special shell before she had to leave on a curse breaking job." Percy lied.

"Give me that shell." Ethan demanded.

Percy scowled and reached into his pocket, he couldn't afford to pull out Riptide, so he pulled out a small shimmering shell that he had found on the lake shore when he talked to Hermes.

Ethan snatched it from his hand.

"How do I work it?" He asked.

Percy eyed Annabeth worriedly before telling him, lying through his teeth. "Say 'Hide me'. To re-appear, say 'Show me'."

"Hide me." Ethan said to the shell, Vitani instantly waved her wand, turning him invisible. She used a different spell than before, since the spell she used before allowed those she turned invisible to still be able to see each other. "Show me." Ethan instant reappeared. "Vitani does make the most useful gadgets, doesn't she?"

Ethan then pulled them all into the admiralty room, where a sarcophagus, engraved with Ancient Greek scenes of cities in flames and heroes dying grisly death, was at the back of the room. Despite the sunlight, the casket made the whole room feel cold.

Though Ethan offered them a seat, none of them sat.

Ethan then introduced his assistants, Agrius and Oreius. He told them the story of their births, how Aphrodite ordered a woman to fall in love, but she refused and went to Artemis for help and joined her hunters instead. Aphrodite got her revenge by bewitching the woman to fall in love with a bear, but when Artemis found out, she abandoned the girl in disgust.

The story made Luke and Vitani seethe, Vitani's respect for the gods, especially Aphrodite, plummeted. She hated with people played with other people's lives like that, it was despicable, especially when it was a god. She never trusted those who had a seat of power for that long, it tended to make them arrogant with overly inflated egos. Thinking that they know what was best for others, when in reality they were making things worse. The Goddess of Marriage, Home, and Family, Hera, was the one Vitani despised the most. She had read of her history, and disliked her ever since. The Goddess killed and made miserable tens of women and innocent children because of Zeus' unfaithfulness. It was cruel and unfair, not to mention how she had treated her son, Hephaestus because he wasn't good looking like the other Gods and Goddesses. Hera also only liked 'Perfect' families, something that Vitani resented her for. Not every family was perfect, and if because one wasn't perfect, didn't mean that the Goddess should damn them.

"Well, Percy, we let you survive another year. I hope you appreciated it. How's your mom? How's school?" Ethan asked, propping his feet up on to the table as he lounged on the sofa.

"You poisoned Thalia's tree." Percy spat.

Ethan sighed. "Right to the point, eh? Okay, sure I poisoned the tree. So what?"

"How could you?!" Annabeth screamed.

Ethan just ignored her and moved on. "I know all about your plan to find the Fleece. What were those coordinates again? 30, 31, 75, 12? I still have friends at camp who keep me posted."

"Spies you mean." Percy glared.

He shrugged. "How many insults from your father can you stand, Percy? You think he's grateful to you? You think Poseidon cares for you any more than he cares for this monster?"

Tyson clenched his fists.

"The gods are just using you, Percy. Do you have any idea what's in store for you if you reach your sixteenth birthday? Has Chiron even told you the prophecy?"

"I know what I need to know, like who my enemies are."

"Then you're a fool."

Tyson smashed the nearest table to pieces. "Percy is not a fool!"

Tyson tried to attack Ethan, but the bear twins together pushed him back.

"Too bad, Cyclops." Ethan said. "Looks like my grizzly friends together are more than a match for your strength."

A dark looked then cam over his face as he looked at the casket.

"I want Olympus destroyed! Every throne crushed to rubble! Each time a half-blood joins us, the Olympians grow weaker and we grow stronger.  _He_ grows stronger." Ethan pointed to the gold sarcophagus.

Percy's eyes widened. "You don't mean-"

"He's reforming." Ethan said. "Little by little, we're calling his life force out of the pit. With every recruit who pledges to our cause, another small piece appears!"

"That's disgusting!" Annabeth said angrily.

Ethan sneered at her. "Your mother was born from Zeus's split skull, Annabeth. I wouldn't talk. Soon there will be enough of the titan lord so that we can make him whole again. We will piece together a new body for him, a work worthy of the forges of Hephaestus."

"You're insane." Annabeth said.

"Join us and you'll be rewarded. We have powerful friends, sponsors rich enough to buy this cruise ship and much more. Percy, your mother will never have to work again. You can buy her a mansion. You can have power, fame—whatever you want. Annabeth, you can realize your dream of being an architect. You can build a monument to last a thousand years. A temple to the lords of the next age!"

"Go to Tartarus!" She spat.

Ethan sighed. "A shame."

He picked up something that looked like a TV remote and pressed a red button. Within seconds the door of the stateroom opened and two uniformed crew members came in, armed with nightsticks.

"Ah, good, security." Ethan said, "I'm afraid we have some stowaways."

"Yes, sir." They said dreamily.

Ethan turned to Oreius. "It's time to feed the Aethiopian drakon. Take these fools below and show them how it's done."

Oreius grinned stupidly. "Hehe! Hehe!"

"Let me go, too." Agrius grumbled. "My brother is worthless. That Cyclops—"

"Is no threat." Ethan said.

He glanced back at the golden casket, as if something were troubling him. "Agrius, stay here. We have important matters to discuss."

"But—"

"Oreius, don't fail me. Stay in the hold to make sure the drakon is properly fed."

Oreius prodded us with his javelin and herded them out of the stateroom, followed by the two human security guards.

As Percy walked down the corridor with Oreius's javelin poking him in the back, he thought about what Ethan had said—that the bear twins  _together_ were a match for Tyson's strength. But maybe separately …

They exited the corridor amidships and walked across an open deck lined with lifeboats.

Percy looked at Tyson and said, "Now."

Thank the gods, he understood. He turned and smacked Oreius thirty feet backward into the swimming pool, right into the middle of the zombie tourist family.

Ropes shot out of nowhere and bounded the bear man, gagging him as well. The a beam of red light hit one guard while another just fell to the floor with a thud.

Luke and Vitani reappeared.

"Life boats!" Vitani urged, and everyone ran to the nearest one, jumping in with Vitani shooting curses at every monster in sight. As they couldn't work the pulley, Luke slashed the rope with Backbiter and they free fell into the ocean.

"Thermos!" Percy shouted, and Tyson understood as he took out a thermos from one of the duffel bags, handing it to Percy without losing his grip on it or the boat.

"Hang on!" Percy yelled before giving the thermos cap a quarter spin, releasing a white sheet of wind that propelled the boat at a 45 degree angle towards the water.

When they hit the ocean, the skipped a few times across the water like a flat stone before whizzing away like a speedboat.

The ocean spray made a good enough rainbow or Iris-messaging, they messaged Chiron and told him about their encounter with Ethan and Kronos' casket, but they were cut off by Chiron's relatives, the party ponies, before Chiron could tell them anything helpful.

They soon passed a coast guard cruiser, who did a double take when he saw them zoom by.

"That's Virginia Beach!" Annabeth said as we approached the shoreline. "Oh my gods, how did the  _Princess Andromeda_ travel so far overnight? That's like—"

"Five hundred and thirty nautical miles." Percy said.

Everyone but Tyson paused and looked at him with raised brows.

"How'd you know that, Perce?" Luke asked.

Percy furrowed his brow. "I have no idea."

Vitani then had an idea. "Percy, what's our position right now?"

"36 degrees, 44 minutes north, 76 degrees, 2 minutes west." Percy said immediately before he shook his head. "Whoa. How did I know that?"

"Because of your dad." Annabeth guessed. "When you're at sea, you have perfect bearings. That is  _so_ cool."

"At least we won't be lost at sea with you around, Perce." Luke grinned.

Then they saw lights flashing, behind them was the coast guard cruiser.

"We can't let them catch us, they'll ask too many questions!" Annabeth said, panicked.

"Keep going into Chesapeake Bay." Luke said. "I know a place we can hide."

"Oh! That place!" Annabeth smiled.


	11. Chapter 11

The five stayed at a safe house Luke and Annabeth built with Thalia when they were on the run, and decided to rest there.

Their rest was put to an end when a Hydra appeared after Tyson had bought some donuts.

"Fire! We have to use fire! It's their weakness!" Annabeth shouted as Tyson beat the Hydra's heads like a whack-a-mole game.

Everyone scrambled to Vitani when she pointed and waved her wand, a jet of flames shooting out of the tip and burning the Hydra horribly, making it shriek in pain. Tyson, being immune to fire, didn't feel a thing.

Vitani drove the Hydra back but before she could finish it off, Annabeth dragged to her to the ground. "Hit the deck!"

**BOOM!**

The Hydra exploded and covered everyone in Hydra guts. Vitani cringed in disgust before casting a spell to vanish and clean the guts off her and her companions.

"Steamship!" Tyson yelled.

Everyone looked to the shore, only to see an ironclad, Civil war battle cruiser that read 'CSS Birmingham' across the side in moss covered letters.

And standing next to the smoking cannon that nearly killed Vitani and her companions, was Clarisse.

"Losers." Clarisse sneered, mainly directing her ire towards Percy and Annabeth. "But I suppose I have to rescue you, climb aboard."

Vitani just muttered under her breath as she trudged towards Clarisse's cruiser. "I'm not a loser, and I could've handled that Hydra just fine..."

Luke smiled comfortingly and pat Vitani on the back, kissing the side of her head.

* * *

After a tour of the ship, where they were introduced to Clarisse's zombie minions, they shared information in the Captain's quarters.

"Clarisse, we saw Ethan, he might be after the Fleece, too. He's got the coordinates and he's heading south. He has a cruise ship full of monsters—" Annabeth was cut off by Clarisse however.

"Good! I'll blow him out of the water." She smirked.

"You don't understand." Annabeth said. "We have to combine forces. Let us help you—"

"No!" Clarisse pounded the table. "This is  _my_ quest, smart girl! Finally  _I_ get to be the hero, and you five will  _not_ steal my chance."

"Where are your cabin mates?" Luke asked. "You were allowed to take two friends with you, weren't you?"

"They didn't ... I let them stay behind. To protect the camp."

"Vitani's barriers does a good enough job of that." Luke frowned.

"You mean even the people in your own cabin wouldn't help you?" Percy asked incredulously, catching on to what Luke was hinting at.

"Shut up, Prissy! I don't need them! Or you!"

"Clarisse." Vitani said gently. "Tantalus is using you. He doesn't care about the camp. He'd love to see it destroyed. He's setting you up to fail."

"No! I don't care what the Oracle—" She stopped her self.

"What?" Percy asked. "What did the Oracle tell you?"

"Nothing." Clarisse's ears turned pink, Vitani was tempted to use legilimency, but she respected Clarisse's privacy too much. "All you need to know is that I'm finishing this quest and you're  _not_ helping. On the other hand, I can't let you go ..."

"So we're prisoners?" Annabeth asked.

"Guests. For now." Clarisse propped her feet up on the white linen tablecloth and opened another Dr Pepper. "Captain, take them below. Assign them hammocks on the berth deck. If they don't mind their manners, show them how we deal with enemy spies."

* * *

The next morning, everyone saw that they had come a long way overnight, and that the entrance to the Sea of Monsters was not too far ahead.

"At last, Captain, Full speed ahead!" Clarisse ordered.

The engine groaned as the cruiser picked up speed.

Tyson muttered nervously, "Too much strain on the pistons. Not meant for deep water."

Luke and Vitani looked wide eyed at that.

To the north, a huge mass of rock rose out of the sea—an island with cliffs at least a hundred feet tall. About half a mile south of that, the other patch of darkness was a storm brewing. The sky and sea boiled together in a roaring mass.

"Hurricane?" Annabeth asked.

"No," Clarisse said. "Charybdis."

Annabeth paled. "Are you crazy?"

"Only way into the Sea of Monsters. Straight between Charybdis and her sister Scylla." Clarisse pointed to the top of the cliffs.

"What do you mean the only way?" Percy asked. "The sea is wide open! Just sail around them."

Luke grimaced. "Percy, If she tried to sail around them, they would just appear in her path again. If you want to get into the Sea of Monsters, you  _have_ to sail through them."

"See?" Clarisse said smugly.

"What about the Clashing Rocks?" Annabeth suggested. "That's another gateway. Jason used it."

"I can't blow apart rocks with my cannon." Clarisse said. "Monsters, on the other hand …"

"You  _are_ crazy." Annabeth decided before turning to Vitani hopefully. "Don't you have a spell that can blast those rocks?"

Vitani looked at the rocks and cringed. "Sorry, not for rocks that big, I might just end up making it worse."

Annabeth sighed.

"Watch and learn, Wise Girl." Clarisse turned to the captain. "Set course for Charybdis!"

"Aye, m'lady."

The engine groaned, the iron plating rattled, and the ship began to pick up speed.

"Clarisse," Percy said, "Charybdis sucks up the sea. Isn't that the story?"

"And spits it back out again, yeah."

"What about Scylla?"

"She lives in a cave, up on those cliffs. If we get too close, her snaky heads will come down and start plucking sailors off the ship."

"Choose Scylla then," Percy said. "Everybody goes below deck and we chug right past."

"No!" Clarisse insisted. "If Scylla doesn't get her easy meat, she might pick up the whole ship. Besides, she's too high to make a good target. My cannons can't shoot straight up. But Charybdis just sits there at the centre of her whirlwind. We're going to steam straight toward her, train our guns on her, and blow her to Tartarus!"

Everyone other than Clarisse had a feeling that it wouldn't work.

Annabeth pulled Luke, Vitani, Percy, and Tyson aside. "This isn't going to work! We need a backup plan. What about the Thermos? Or can you control the water?"

Percy shook his head. "The Thermos would be too dangerous to use in a whirlpool like that, and I can't manipulate the water here!"

"This part of the sea might be out of Poseidon's domain." Luke said, frowning thoughtfully.

"It's not that, the waves are too strong, and Charybdis is too loud and powerful! I can't concentrate with all this noise!" Percy replied.

"Engine no good." Tyson said.

"What do you mean, Tyson?" Vitani asked.

"Pressure. Pistons need fixing." Tyson answered.

As they got closer to the giant cosmic toilet that was Charybdis, the waves started to crash onto the deck.

A zombie sailor burst out of the hold and ran to Clarisse. His grey uniform was smoking. His beard was on fire. "Boiler room is overheating, ma'am! She's going to blow!"

"Well, get down there and fix it!"

"Can't!" the sailor yelled. "We're vaporizing in the heat."

Clarisse pounded the side of the case-mate. "All I need is a few more minutes! Just enough to get in range!"

"We're going in too fast." The captain said grimly. "Prepare yourself for death."

"No!" Tyson bellowed. "I can fix it."

Clarisse looked at him incredulously. "You?"

"He's a Cyclops," Annabeth said. "He's immune to fire. And he knows mechanics."

"Go!" yelled Clarisse.

"Tyson, no!" Percy grabbed his arm. "It's too dangerous!"

He patted my hand. "Only way, brother." His expression was determined—confident, even. None of them had ever seen Tyson look like this before. "I will fix it. Be right back."

"Can't you go and help him, Vitani?" Percy asked desperately.

"I'm sorry, Percy, I don't know mechanics very well so I wouldn't be much help, not to mention if I tried to cool down that boiler room, the metal might strain from the sudden change in temperature." Vitani frowned.

* * *

Clarisse kept shooting Charybdis' mouth her her cannons, but it did next to nothing. Just as the cruiser was about to be pulled in, the ship shuddered and started to pull away.

"Tyson did it!" Annabeth said, grinning slightly.

Clarisse wanted to stay close, but everyone else wanted to move away. Before a decision could be made, Charybdis' mouth suddenly snapped shut, calming the sea.

"What-" Vitani started but was cut off when Charybdis' mouth snapped back open, spitting out a wall of water, ejecting every thing inedible, including their cannonballs, one of which slammed into the side of the CSS  _Birmingham_ with a  _ding_ like the bell on a carnival game.

The ship was thrown backwards on a wave that was at least forty feet high. Percy used all his willpower and Vitani had summoned The Watery Clow card to keep the ship of capsizing, but they were still spinning out of control, hurtling towards the cliffs on the opposite side of the strait.

"The Engine is about to blow!" A smouldering sailor said, bursting out of the hold.

"Where's Tyson?" Percy demanded.

"Still down there." The sailor answered. "Holding it together somehow, though I don't know for how much longer."

"We have to abandon ship!" The captain said, Clarisse protested but he continued anyways. "We have no choice, m'lady. The hull is already cracking apart! She can't-"

The zombie man never finished his sentence. Quick as lightning something brown and green shot from the sky, snatched up the captain, and lifted him away. All that was left of him were his leather boots.

"Scylla!" A sailor yelled before he was snatched up as well.

"We have to get the lifeboats ready!" Annabeth said, Clarisse for once agreed with her and did as told.

"VITANI!" Luke shouted when Vitani was snatched up by the back of her jacket.

Vitani gave a shout of surprise as she was being lifted high in the air. The CSS Birmingham then exploded below her, causing Vitani to cry out in horror.

**KABOOOOM!**

Vitani growled and pointed her wand over her shoulder, casting the Conjunctivitis Curse. Luckily, it hit Scylla's eye. She wailed in pain and flung Vitani over the cliffs.

Vitani screamed as she flew into the air, narrowly missing some jagged rocks that nearly impaled her.

"ARESTO MOMENTUM!"

Vitani slowed in the air before landing on the bottom of the island gently. She gave a sigh of relief when she saw Scylla retreat back into the cave at the top of the cliffs.

It was then that she realized where she was. On this side of the cliff island was some sort of ship graveyard. Hundreds of broken ships and ship parts littered the shoreline.

Vitani looked around hurriedly, keeping her guard up but she highly doubted anything was alive. She kept looking until she found a salvageable row boat. With a wave of her wand, the rowboat was fixed and looked good as new.

She levitated the boat to the water and spelled it to row itself. She cast a strong disillusionment charm to keep herself from being seen. She made her way to the floating debris that used to be the CSS Birmingham.

"Hello? Anyone there? Luke? Clarisse? Percy? Annabeth? Tyson?" Vitani called out, but there was no answer, the sea was quiet.

She then muttered a long incantation, transforming herself into a mermaid. She left her satchel bag in the boat before she dived into the water.

She swam for a few minutes before Vitani squinted her eyes at something sinking deep below. She swam towards it and gasped when she saw Tyson, unconscious. At least she didn't have to worry about him drowning, as a son of Poseidon, he could breath underwater.

She swam to Tyson hooked her arms under his armpits, dragging him to the surface.

Vitani then saw something white swim towards them rapidly. She took out her wand, ready to attack what ever it was, but sighed in relief when it was the three Hippocampi they had ridden before. The largest one, Rainbow, helped Vitani bring Tyson to the surface.

"Over there, Rainbow." Vitani said, pointing to her rowboat.

Rainbow whinnied and took Tyson to the boat, where Vitani got on and levitated Tyson onto as well.

"Thank you!" Vitani said.

Rainbow whinnied again and nudged Tyson, who slowly opened his eye. Tyson sat up quickly, looking around in confusion until he saw Vitani and Rainbow.

"Rainbow! Vitani!" Tyson cried in happily, giving the girl a bone crushing hug before moving on to Rainbow, who neighed elatedly.

Tyson seemed to nod to whatever Rainbow was saying. "Rainbow followed me! Want to play again!"

"That's nice." Vitani grinned.

"Where brother? Annabeth? Luke?" Tyson asked, looking around.

"Sorry, Tyson. I couldn't find them." Vitani said sadly.

"Brother dead?" Tyson asked, tears already leaking from his eye as he cried.

"No, no!" Vitani assured frantically. "Percy is very tough, so is Annabeth, Luke, and Clarisse. They're just lost okay? We have to find them!"

"Brother lost?" Tyson asked.

"Yes, their just lost, so we have to find them, okay?" Vitani asked gently.

"Okay!" Tyson nodded happily.

* * *

Luke groaned as he woke before he sat up quickly in panic. He then saw Annabeth and Percy looking at him.

"Agh...what happened?" Luke asked, trying to regain his bearings.

"Clarisse's ship exploded." Percy said.

"I managed to get you two on this rowboat, but I couldn't find anything else. Rest, you're going to need it." Annabeth said.

"Vitani...?" Luke asked, alarmed when he didn't see his beloved on the rowboat with them.

"Luke, I'm so sorry." Annabeth said, tearing up. "But Scylla got her and I never saw her come back down."

Luke backed up, his eyes wide as horror as the memories suddenly came crashing through him, the memory of Vitani being snatched up by Scylla right in front of him was the most relevant. "No... No! No! NO! I refuse to believe that she's dead, Annabeth!"

"She's not the only one gone, Tyson and Clarisse too." Percy said bitterly.

"I saw Clarisse in a life boat before the ship exploded, so it's probable that she survived but Tyson and Vitani..." Annabeth trailed off.

Luke felt tears sting his eyes.

"Luke, Vitani is strong, you know that. Who knows, maybe she was able to use a spell in time to get away from Scylla before she ate her." Percy said, trying to cheer Luke up.

Annabeth nodded, drying her own tears. "Right! Vitani wouldn't die so easily! She's a fighter! We just have to believe in her."

Luke nodded, wiping his tears. "Right. The Vitani I know wouldn't go down without a fight. We'll just have to find her, won't we?"

"Yeah." Annabeth nodded in agreement.

"Tyson too." Percy reminded. All three of them agreed, hope filling their chests as they sailed onward.

* * *

Tyson and Vitani sailed for hours with no sign of land or life anywhere.

The three hippocampi let Vitani tie them to the boat, allowing them to pull the boat along speedily.

When Tyson became hungry, Vitani pulled out her food cooler from her satchel bag and gave all the peanut butter sandwiches she had in the cooler to Tyson, who ate them all happily. Vitani was glad that Percy had told her that Tyson's favourite food was peanut butter.

She herself had a turkey sandwich, and gave the Hippocampi each 3 red juicy apples.

The sun was high up in the sky, so Vitani used 'The Wood' Clow card to make a roof over their heads to keep the sun away.

"Do you smell anything, Tyson?" Vitani asked. The point-me spell didn't work in the Sea of Monsters for some reason.

Tyson shook his head sadly. Vitani pat his back in a comforting manner.

"Don't worry about it, buddy, we'll find them."

* * *

Luke, Percy, and Annabeth ran down the hillside and through the terraces, past screaming spa workers and pirates ransacking the resort. Luke and Percy had been turned into guinea pigs not too long ago, and they were desperate to get away from the woman who did it, Circe.

"Which ship?" Annabeth asked when the reached the docks.

Percy looked around before he saw the perfect one. "That one!"

Annabeth blinked. "But-"

"I can make it work." Percy said confidently.

"How?"

"Don't question the son of the Poseidon, Annabeth. Let's just get going!" Luke hurried.

The trio ran over to the three-mast ship. Painted on its front was the name they would only decipher later: Queen Anne's Revenge.

"Arggggh!" Blackbeard yelled behind them. "Those scalawags are a boarding me vessel! Get 'em lads!"

"We'll never get going in time!" Annabeth yelled as they climbed aboard.

Percy concentrated for a second before yelling out, "Mizzenmast!"

Luke and Annabeth looked at him like he was mental, but in the next second, the air was filled with whistling sounds of ropes being snapped taut, canvases unfurling, and wooden pulleys creaking.

Annabeth and Luke both ducked when a cable flew over their heads and wrapped itself around the bowsprit.

"Percy, how...?" Annabeth asked, awed.

Percy said nothing as he stared hard at the sail and rudder, which risen and turned.

The Queen Anne's Revenge then lurched away from the dock, and by the time the pirates arrived at the water's edge, they were already underway and sailing into the Sea of Monsters.

* * *

A couple more hours had gone by, and Vitani and Tyson still held hope on finding Percy, Clarisse, Luke, and Annabeth.

Tyson was at the front of the boat, looking in every direction while Vitani caught up on some much needed rest. Tyson would wake her if he found something.

* * *

Luke looked at Annabeth worriedly as she huddled in a blanket as they sailed away from the island of Sirens.

The three sailed until the island was completely out of sight, Annabeth mouthed "safe" before Luke and Percy took out their wax earplugs.

"You okay?" Percy asked.

"I didn't realize how powerful the temptation would be." Annabeth murmured.

"I saw the way you rebuilt Manhattan." Percy told her. "And your parents."

Percy decided not to mention that he also saw Luke, he didn't know whether or not Luke knew about Annabeth's crush on him, not to mention that he was dating Vitani and was completely in love with her. He was also feeling a bit jealous of the son of Hermes, but he wouldn't admit it.

She blushed. " You saw that?"

"What Ethan told you back on the Princess Andromeda, about starting the world from scratch... that really got to you, huh?" Percy asked.

Annabeth pulled the blanket around her tighter. "My fatal flaw. That's what the Sirens showed me. My fatal flaw is Hubris."

Percy blinked. "That brown stuff they spread on veggie sandwiches?"

Luke facepalmed. "Perce, that's Hummus. Hubris is worse."

"What could be worse than hummus?" Percy asked.

"Seaweed brain, Hubris means deadly pride. Thinking you can do things better than anyone else... even the gods."

"You feel that way?" Percy asked, frowning.

She looked down. "Don't you ever feel like, what if the world really  _is_ messed up? What if we  _could_ do it all over again from scratch? No more war. Nobody homeless. No more summer reading homework."

"I'm listening." Percy said, perking up at the homework part. Luke chuckled.

"I mean, the West represents a lot of the best things mankind ever did—that's why the fire is still burning. That's why Olympus is still around. But sometimes you just see the bad stuff, you know? And you start thinking the way Ethan does: 'If I could tear this all down, I would do it better.' Don't you ever feel that way? Like  _you_ could do a better job if you ran the world?"

"Um... no. Me running the world would kind of be a nightmare." Percy said.

"Then you're lucky. Hubris isn't your fatal flaw." Luke said, grinning from Percy's answer.

"Then what is?"

"I don't know, Percy, but every Hero has one. If you don't find it and learn to control it... well, they don't call it fatal for nothing." Annabeth said.

Luke nodded. "My fatal flaw is Anger."

"Anger? You?" Percy asked, surprised.

"Surprising isn't it? Vitani changed me, she toned down my anger to manageable levels. If it wasn't for her, I might've been the one in Ethan's place. Don't get me wrong, I'm still angry, mainly at the gods, but it's because of Vitani that I didn't run off and join the other side." Luke said bitterly, feeling deeply ashamed of himself.

"Don't talk like that, Luke." Annabeth said.

"What's Vitani's fatal flaw then?" Percy asked.

"A mix of Personal Loyalty and a weakness for Heroics." Luke said, looking off into the sea wistfully. "Vitani is an extremely brave, loyal, and selfless person who possesses tremendous strength of character, Percy. She would go to great lengths and take great risks in order to help others, particularly her loved ones. But that could also be her greatest strength, I suppose, she has the power to make just about anybody believe in her."

"Including us." Annabeth smiled, Percy smiled as well.

Suddenly Luke's eyes widened. "Percy."

Percy turned to where Luke was looking. Up ahead was another blotch of land, a saddle-shaped island with forested hills, white beaches, and green meadows. His nautical senses confirmed it. 30 degrees, 31 minutes north, 75 degrees, 12 minutes west.


	12. Chapter 12

"The Fleece!" Annabeth breathed as they neared the shore.

"I can see it too." Luke nodded, a smile pulling at his lips.

In the meadow at the base of the ravine, several dozen sheep were milling around. They looked peaceful enough, but they were huge—the size of hippos.

Just up the past them was a path that led up into the hills. At the top of the path, near the edge of the canyon, was a massive oak tree with something gold glittering on its branches.

"This is too easy." Percy said, biting his lip.

"It seems like we could just hike up there and take it." Luke said, agreeing with him.

Annabeth narrowed her eyes. "There's supposed to be a guardian. A dragon or..."

Annabeth stopped talking when the three of them saw a deer emerge from the bushes. It trotted near the meadows, most likely looking for grass to eat, when all the sheep bleated at once and rushed the animal. It had happened so fast that the deer stumbled and was lost in a sea of wool and trampling hooves.

Grass and tufts of fur flew into the air. Barely a second later, all the sheep moved away, back to their regular peaceful wanderings. Where the deer had been was a pile of white clean bones.

"They're like piranhas." Annabeth said, exchanging looks with her two companions.

"Piranhas with wool you mean." Luke said dryly.

"How will we-" Percy was cut off by Annabeth, who grabbed his and Luke's arms.

"Percy! Luke!" Annabeth gasped. "Look!"

Annabeth pointed down the beach, to just below the sheep meadow, where a small boat had been run aground ... the other lifeboat from the CSS  _Birmingham._

"Could it be?" Luke asked, Percy and Annabeth could practically see the hope filling the elder demigod. It wasn't surprising, they could tell how much he was in love with Vitani, anyone with half a brain and eyes could, and they weren't about to ruin his hopes of finding her.

The three decided that there was no way they could get past the man-eating sheep. Annabeth wanted to sneak up the path invisibly and grab the Fleece, but in the end Luke and Percy convinced her that something would go wrong. The sheep would smell her. Another guardian would appear. Something. And if that happened, they'd be too far away to help.

Besides, their first job was to find Grover and whoever had come ashore in the lifeboat—assuming they had gotten past the sheep.

Annabeth logically thought it was Clarisse while Luke and Percy were hoping that it was either Vitani or Tyson respectively.

They moored the  _Queen Anne's Revenge_ on the back side of the island where the cliffs rose straight up a good two hundred feet. Luke figured the ship was less likely to be seen there. The cliffs looked climbable, barely—about as difficult as the lava wall back at camp. At least it was free of sheep. Percy hoped that Polyphemus did not also keep carnivorous mountain goats.

They rowed a lifeboat to the edge of the rocks and made their way up, very slowly. Luke went first because he was the best climber of the three, Annabeth went second and Percy brought up the rear in last.

"Damn. I wish I had my flying shoes, but Vitani has them in her bag." Luke cursed.

The three slowly made their way up, only coming close to falling to their death about six or seven times. The rocks were slippery, and some were covered with moss.

Just a moment later, Annabeth hit a slippery patch of moss and her foot slipped. Fortunately, she found something else to put it against, unfortunately, that something was Percy's face.

Luke snorted with laughter.

"Sorry." Annabeth murmured, embarrassed.

"S'okay." Percy grunted before they kept climbing.

Soon they were able to haul themselves over the top of the cliff and collapsed in exhaustion.

"Ugh." Percy groaned.

"Ouch." Moaned Annabeth.

Luke just closed his eyes and panted.

"GARR!" Another voice bellowed.

The three sat up and whirled around, Annabeth had to clamp a hand over Percy's mouth to keep him from saying something and pointed.

The ledge they were sitting on was narrower than they had realized. It dropped off on the opposite side, and that's where the voice was coming from—right below them.

"You're a feisty one!" The deep voice bellowed.

"Challenge me!" It was Clarisse's voice, no doubt about it. "Give me back my sword and I'll fight you!"

The monster roared with laughter.

The three of them crept to the edge. They were right above the entrance of the Cyclops cave. Below them stood Polyphemus and Grover, still in his wedding dress. Clarisse was tied up, hanging upside down over a pot of boiling water.

Luke couldn't hide his disappointment, Vitani wasn't down there with Clarisse. Even if she had been in danger, at least he would've known that she was alive and could work on saving her. But there was no sign of her anywhere.

Percy was thinking the same thing about Tyson.

"Hmm," Polyphemus pondered. "Eat loudmouth girl now or wait for wedding feast? What does my bride think?"

He turned to Grover, who backed up and almost tripped over his completed bridal train. "Oh, um, I'm not hungry right now, dear. Perhaps—"

"Did you say  _bride?"_ Clarisse demanded. "Who— Grover?"

Next to Percy, Annabeth muttered, "Shut up. She has to shut up."

Polyphemus glowered. "What 'Grover'?"

"The satyr!" Clarisse yelled.

"Oh!" Grover yelped. "The poor thing's brain is boiling from that hot water. Pull her down, dear!"

Polyphemus' eyelids narrowed over his baleful milky eye, as if he were trying to see Clarisse more clearly.

The Cyclops was an even more horrible sight than what Percy had described from his dreams. Partly because his rancid smell was now up close and personal. Partly because he was dressed in his wedding outfit—a crude kilt and shoulder-wrap, stitched together from baby-blue tuxedos, as if the he'd skinned an entire wedding party.

"What satyr?" Asked Polyphemus. "Satyrs are good eating. You bring me a satyr?"

"No, you big idiot!" bellowed Clarisse.  _"That_ satyr! Grover! The one in the wedding dress!"

Percy wanted to wring Clarisse's neck, but it was too late. All they could do was watch as Polyphemus turned and ripped off Grover's wedding veil—revealing his curly hair, his scruffy adolescent beard, his tiny horns.

Polyphemus breathed heavily, trying to contain his anger. "I don't see very well," he growled. "Not since many years ago when the other hero stabbed me in eye. But YOU'RE—NO—LADY—CYCLOPS!"

The Cyclops grabbed Grover's dress and tore it away. Underneath, the old Grover reappeared in his jeans and T-shirt. He yelped and ducked as the monster swiped over his head.

"Stop!" Grover pleaded. "Don't eat me raw! I—I have a good recipe!"

As Percy and Luke reached for their swords, Annabeth stopped them with a hiss, "Wait!"

Polyphemus was hesitating, a boulder in his hand, ready to smash his would-be bride.

"Recipe?" He asked Grover.

"Oh y-yes! You don't want to eat me raw. You'll get E-Coli and botulism and all sorts of horrible things. I'll taste much better grilled over a slow fire. With mango chutney! You could go get some mangos right now, down there in the woods. I'll just wait here."

The monster pondered this. Their hearts hammered against their ribs as they waited for Polyphemus to come to a decision.

"Grilled satyr with mango chutney," Polyphemus mused. He looked back at Clarisse, still hanging over the pot of boiling water. "You a satyr, too?"

"No, you overgrown pile of dung!" She yelled. "I'm a girl! The daughter of Ares! Now untie me so I can rip your arms off!"

"Rip my arms off." Polyphemus repeated.

"And stuff them down your throat!"

"You got spunk."

"Let me down!"

Polyphemus snatched up Grover as if he were a wayward puppy. "Have to graze sheep now. Wedding postponed until tonight. Then we'll eat satyr for the main course!"

"But... you're still getting married?" Grover sounded hurt. "Who's the bride?"

Polyphemus looked toward the boiling pot.

Clarisse made a strangled sound. "Oh, no! You can't be serious. I'm not—"

Before Annabeth, Luke, or Percy could do anything, Polyphemus plucked her off the rope like she was a ripe apple, and tossed her and Grover deep into the cave. "Make yourself comfortable! I come back at sundown for big event!"

Then the Cyclops whistled, and a mixed flock of goats and sheep—smaller than the man-eaters—flooded out of the cave and past their master. As they went to pasture, Polyphemus patted some on the back and called them by name—Beltbuster, Tammany, Lockhart, etc.

When the last sheep had waddled out, Polyphemus rolled a boulder in front of the doorway as easily as a human would close a refrigerator door, shutting off the sound of Clarisse and Grover screaming inside.

"Mangos," Polyphemus grumbled to himself. "What are mangos?"

He strolled off down the mountain in his baby-blue groom's outfit, leaving them alone with a pot of boiling water and a six-ton boulder.

The three tried for what seemed like hours, but it was no good. The boulder wouldn't move. They yelled into the cracks, tapped on the rock, and did everything they could think off to get a signal to Grover or Clarisse, but if they had heard them, they couldn't tell.

Even if by some miracle they managed to kill Polyphemus, it wouldn't do them any good. Grover and Clarisse would still die inside the sealed cave. The only way to move the rock was to either have a Cyclops do it, or have Vitani do it with her magic.

With his high stress of Vitani being missing, Luke had completely forgotten that he could teleport.

In frustration, Percy and Luke stabbed their respective swords against the boulder. Sparks flew, but nothing else happened.

Luke, Annabeth, and Percy sat on the ridge in despair and watched as the baby blue shape of the Cyclops as he moved among his flocks. He had wisely divided his regular animals from his man-eating sheep, putting each group on either side of the huge crevice that divided the island. The only way across was the rope bridge, and the planks were much too far apart for sheep hooves.

The trio was disappointed when Polyphemus wasn't eaten by his carnivorous sheep. In fact, they didn't seem to bother him at all. He fed them chunks of mystery meat from a great wicker basket.

"Trickery." Luke decided. "If we can't beat him by force, we'll have to trick him."

"Okay." Percy agreed. "What trick?"

"Haven't figured that part out yet." Luke said, obviously frustrated.

"Polyphemus will have to move the rock to let the sheep back inside." Annabeth said.

"At sunset." Percy nodded. "Which is when he'll marry Clarisse and have Grover for dinner. I'm not sure which is more disgusting."

"I could get inside with my invisibility cap." Annabeth said, her face suddenly brightening.

"What about us?" Luke asked.

"The sheep." Annabeth mused. She then gave them one of those sly looks that made them wary. "How much do you guys like sheep?"

* * *

"Just don't let go!" Annabeth said, standing invisible somewhere off to their right.

"That's easy for you to say!" Luke grunted. "You're not the one hanging upside down from the belly of a sheep!"

"It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be though." Percy admitted.

All they had to do was crawl under a sheep like they would to crawl under a car. The sheep didn't care at all. Even the Cyclop's smallest sheep were big enough to support Percy's weight, and they had thick wool. They just had to twirl the stuff into handles for their hands, hook their feet against the sheep's thigh bones, and presto—a sheep taxi.

"I feel like a baby wallaby." Luke whined, speaking up for both himself and Percy.

"And it smells under here! Like a winter sweater that's been dragged through the mud and left in the laundry hamper for a week." Percy complained.

Annabeth sighed in both amusement and exasperation. "Stop complaining you two! Now be quiet, Polyphemus is coming!"

No sooner than when Annabeth had said that and the two were in position, Polyphemus roared. "Oy! Goaties! Sheepies!"

"This is it!" Annabeth whispered. "I'll be close by. Don't worry."

Their sheep taxi then started to plod up the hill, after a hundred yards, Luke's and Percy's hands and feet were starting to hurt from holding on.

The two boys gripped their sheep's wool more tightly, trying not to fall right there in front of the monster.

"Hasenpfeffer!" The Cyclops said, patting the sheep in front of Luke. "Einstein! Widget! Eh- there, Einstein, Widget!"

Polyphemus patted their sheep, nearly knocking them to the ground. "Putting on some extra mutton there? Hahaha! Go on, fatties! Soon Polyphemus will eat you for breakfast!"

Just like that, the three of them were in the cave.

Annabeth decided when the last of the sheep were inside the cave, she'd pull of her distraction. "Hello, ugly!"

Polyphemus stiffened. "Who said that?"

"Nobody!" Annabeth yelled.

That got exactly the reaction she'd been hoping for. The monster's face turned red with rage.

"Nobody!" Polyphemus yelled back. "I remember you!"

"You're too stupid to remember anybody." Annabeth taunted. "Much less Nobody."

Polyphemus bellowed furiously, then the sound of a rock smashing was heard.

"You haven't learned how to throw any better, either!" Annabeth shouted.

Polyphemus howled. "Come here! Let me kill you, Nobody!"

"You can't kill Nobody, you stupid oaf!" She taunted. "Come find me!"

Polyphemus barrelled away to find her voice, becoming so angry that he had forgotten to seal the cave entrance, just like they had hoped.

When the monster was gone, Luke and Percy dropped off their rides, patting their respective sheep on the head.

"Sorry." Percy said, patting Widget before he and Luke pushed through the crowd of sheep towards the back of the cave in search of Clarisse and Grover.

Luke followed Percy as he ran through the maze, passing many sheep themed objects and wooly articles of clothing before they found the spinning room, where Grover was huddled in the corner and was trying to cut Clarisse's bonds with a pair of safety scissors.

"It's not good." Clarisse said. "This rope is like iron!"

"Just a few more minutes!"

"Grover," Clarisse said, exasperated. "You've been at this for hours!"

Then they saw Luke and Percy.

"Perrrrcy!" Grover bleated and tackled the son of Poseidon with a goat-hug. "You heard me! You came!"

"Of course I came, buddy!" Percy said, smiling. "We have to hurry though, Annabeth is outside distracting Polyphemus."

"Man, if it wasn't for Vitani's luck potion, I don't think I would've survived til now." Grover admitted, showing the tiny empty vial that used to be filled with molten gold. "It gave me the idea of posing as that monster's soon-to-be bride and the idea of contacting you through our connection."

"Now hold still, Clarisse." Luke said, pulling out Backbiter. It was lucky that Hermes had made it so he couldn't lose the sword like Percy's Riptide, otherwise he would've lost it when the CSS Birmingham blew up. He sliced through her ropes and she stood stiffly, rubbing her wrists.

She glared at both Luke and Percy briefly before looking at the ground and mumbled out a tiny thanks.

"You're welcome." Luke said before his voice turned urgent and desperate. "Now, was anyone else on board your lifeboat?"

Clarisse looked surprised, but her eyes grew sad when she figured out who Luke was asking about. "No. Just me. Everybody else aboard the Birmingham... well, I didn't even know you guys made it out."

Percy looked down, and Luke looked near to tears as he clenched his fists.

"Okay. Come on, then. We have to help-" Percy was cut off by the sound of an explosion, followed by a scream that told them that they might've been too late. Annabeth was in trouble.


	13. Chapter 13

Meanwhile...

"Vitani! Wake up! Big snakey!" Tyson said, nidging the girl awake.

"Huh?" Vitani sat upright and turned around. She crawled towards the front of the boat, being mindful of the roof she had made.

Indeed there was a big snake just as Tyson as said, a giant sea serpent one would hear from old sailor's legends. It was green with a blue underbelly and big red eyes. It was longer than Vitani could see, as still most of his/her body was in the water, but its head towered over them.

"Uh...~ _Can you let us pass?~_ " Vitani hissed.

Tyson giggled. "Vitani is making a funny hissy noise."

If anything, the sea serpent just narrowed its eyes at the tiny boat being pulled by hippocampi before it.

_~A snake speaker, eh? I haven't met one in a long time. But I cannot let you pass, I haven't had new meat, especially demigodlings, in a long time~_

With that the snake reared up with its mouth opened wide. When the sea serpent had moved, it created waves in the sea, jostling the boat, making Vitani lose her balance.

"Tyson! Hold on!" Vitani shouted before the serpent's mouth descended upon them, swallowing them whole.

Thankfully, a snake doesn't chew, it just swallows.

The Hippocampi whinnied in fear as they flapped their fins, and Tyson screamed and clung to Vitani, nearly crushing the girl.

The two of them along with the hippocampi, kept descending into darkness until they slipped into what seemed to be the stomach.

Vitani was quick to pull out her Firebolt broom and levitate Tyson, including the three hippocampi. Their boat was ruined however.

"DAMN IT! I DIDN'T COME ALL THIS WAY TO BE EATEN!" Vitani cried out in frustration.

"Where are we?" Tyson asked.

"The stomach, Tyson." Vitani grimaced. It reeked in here!

"Stinky!" Tyson cried.

"Yes, very stinky." Vitani agreed and put bubble head charms on all of them.

"How we get out, Vitani?" Tyson asked, tears already leaking from his large brown eye.

"Well, I don't want to be vomited back up, so there's one other option. We blow ourselves out." Vitani said, flying to the side of the stomach with her levitating companions right behind her.

She wrapped all of them in a shield bubble before pointing her wand at the stomach wall. "Reducto! Reducto! Bombarda Maxima! Reducto!"

Vitani kept chanting the spells despite the loud roar of pain and the stomach wall pieces and blood flying everywhere. After a few more moments, she had made a large hole big enough for them to fit through. The salt water came pouring in, filling the stomach slowly.

Vitani and Tyson then got onto the Hippocampi, and she levitated them towards the whole and put them into the water. The hippocampi reacted instantly and swam against the current. Vitani had to turn herself into a mermaid, she didn't know how deep the sea serpent had swam after they had been eaten, but it was better to be safe than sorry and not be crushed by the water's pressure.

The Hippocampi slowly made their way through the hole, and before they knew it, they were swimming towards the surface. When they broke, Vitani and Tyson clung to their Hippocampi tightly.

"Yay! Vitani! We are free!" Tyson cheered before he sat up straighter. "I smell sheep!"

"What?" Vitani asked incredulously. "Sheep? In the middle of the Sea of Monsters?"

"Yup! Over that way!" Tyson said, pointing to a dot in the distance.

"Land!" Vitani said, sighing in relief. She turned herself back to normal and sat on her Hippocampus properly."Let's go!"

* * *

Luke, Clarisse, Grover, and Percy crept to the cave entrance and saw Polyphemus, who was grinning wickedly and holding up empty air. The monster shook his fist, and a baseball cap fluttered to the ground. There was Annabeth, hanging upside down by her legs.

"Hah!" The Cyclops said. "Nasty invisible girl! Already got feisty one for wife. Means you gotta be grilled with mango chutney!"

Annabeth struggled in his grip, but she looked dazed. She had a nasty cut on her forehead, and her eyes were glassy.

"We'll rush him." Luke whispered to the group. "Our ship is around the back of the island, you and Grover-"

"No way!" Clarisse and Grover said at the same time. Clarisse had armed herself with a highly collectible rams-horn spear from the Cyclops's cave. Grover had found a sheep's thigh bone, which he didn't look too happy about, but he was gripping it like a club, ready to attack.

"We'll take him together!" Clarisse growled, she obviously wanted revenge for when the Cyclops tried to marry her. Grover agreed, but soon blinked as if he couldn't believe he agreed with Clarisse of all people about something.

Percy, Clarisse, and Grover looked to Luke, silently recognizing him as the leader in this situation, as Luke had the most battle experience out of all of them.

"Alright," Luke said. "Attack plan Macedonia."

They all nodded, having trained together at Camp Half-Blood.

"Grover, try to sneak over to catch Annabeth when I taunt Polyphemus." Luke ordered.

"Got it!"

"Hey Ugly!" Luke shouted, lifting his sword into the air.

"Another one? Who are you?"

"Put down my friend.  _I'm_  the one who insulted you!" Luke yelled as Grover slowly made his way over to Annabeth, ready to catch her.

" _You_ are Nobody?"

"That's right, you blind eyed pile of sheep dung! I'm Nobody and I'm proud of it! Now put her down and get over here. I want to stab your eye again!" Luke gave a smug smirk at this, making Polyphemus roar with rage.

He dropped Annabeth, right into Grover's waiting arms. The Satyr set her down gently by the rocks before he threw the sheep bone club he was wielding when Polyphemus charged at Luke.

"For Pan!" He shouted as the sheep bone bounced harmlessly off the monster's forehead.

Clarisse ran in from the left and set her spear against the ground just in time for the Cyclops to step on it. He wailed in pain, and Clarisse dove out of the way to avoid getting trampled. But the Cyclops just plucked out the shaft like a large splinter and kept advancing onto Luke.

He made a grab for the son of Hermes, but he rolled to the said and stabbed him in the thigh. Percy did the same to his other thigh.

The three of them, Percy, Luke, and Clarisse, charged at the Cyclops again and again, stabbing the monster anywhere they could reach, which was mainly the toe or the ankles or the hands.

But they couldn't keep this up forever, they would eventually tire out or the monster would get in a lucky shot. It would only take one hit to kill them.

Out of the corners of their eyes, they saw Grover carrying Annabeth across the rope bridge. It wouldn't have been their first choice, given the man-eating sheep on the other side, but it looked better than  _this_ side of the chasm. That gave Luke an idea.

"Fall back!" Luke ordered before they ran for the bridge, Polyphemus right behind them.

He was cut up and hobbling from so many wounds, all they had done was slow him down and made him even more angry than he already was.

He cursed at the trio as they kept running, hoping to get across the bridge before the Cyclops caught them.

"Grover! Get Annabeth's knife!" Luke called out.

Grover widened his eyes and nodded, thankfully understanding Luke's intention. The three scrambled across the bridge as Grover began to saw at the ropes.

When the first strand gave away, the bridge swayed wildly as the three dived for solid ground, landing at Grover's feet. Luke then swing his sword, cutting the other ropes.

The bridge fell away into the chasm, but the Cyclops howled with delight, because he was standing right next to them.

"Failed!" Polyphemus yelled gleefully. "Nobody failed!"

Clarisse, and Grover tried to charge him, but the monster just swatted them aside like flies.

Luke and Percy were both seething with rage. They'd come this far, lost Tyson and Vitani, suffered through so much, only to fail—stopped by a big stupid monster in a baby blue tuxedo kilt.

The two then attacked, Percy and Luke stabbed him in the stomach. When he doubled over in pain, Luke smacked him in the nose with the hilt of his sword. The two then slashed, kicked, and bashed until the next thing they knew, Polyphemus was sprawled on his back. He was groaning and dazed, and Percy and Luke were standing above him, their swords hovering over his eye.

The Cyclops was begging for his life, crying his eye out.

All they had to do was stab him once, one quick strike to end it all.

Clarisse and Grover urged the two to kill the monster, but they faltered. Luke because he felt like Vitani would be disappointed if he stuck down something so pitiful, and Percy because he sounded like Tyson when he cried.

Percy then came to a decision. "We only want the Fleece. Will you agree to let us take it?"

"No!" Clarisse shouted. "Kill him!"

The monster sniffed. "My beautiful Fleece. Prize of my collection. Take it, cruel human. Take it and go in peace."

When they backed away slowly however, Polyphemus struck as fast as a cobra, smacking the two towards the end of the cliff.

"Foolish mortals!" He bellowed, rising to his feet. "Take my Fleece? Ha! I eat you first."

When he opened his enormous mouth, revealing his rotten teeth, something happened.

A rock the size of a basketball sailed into Polyphemus' throat. The Cyclops choked, trying to swallow the unexpected pill. He staggered backward, but there was no place to stagger. His heel slipped, the edge of the cliff crumbled, and the great Polyphemus made chicken wing motions that did nothing to help him fly as he tumbled into the chasm.

Luke and Percy turned.

Halfway down the oath to the beach, standing completely unharmed in the midst of a flock of killer sheep, were two old friends.

"Yeah, Tyson! You got him!" Vitani cheered, giving a high five to the baby cyclops. She was flying on a sleek looking broom beside his head.

"Bad Polyphemus." Tyson said. "Not all Cyclops as nice as we look."

Luke immediately ran to Vitani, who flew towards them and hopped down off her broom. He embraced her in a crushing hug, giving her a passionate kiss that had everyone, except Annabeth (who was still out of it), blush and turn away in embarrassment.

"Thank the gods, you're okay!" Luke said, immensely relieved.

Vitani gave the group the short version of what had happened. When she was snatched up by Scylla, she managed to shoot a curse that made one of Scylla's heads fling her over the cliffs and into a ship graveyard. She salvaged a rowboat and searched for survivors and turning herself into a mermaid to do a search underwater. She had found Tyson sinking beneath the wreckage of the CSS Birmingham, and Rainbow, who had been following the group since the Long Island Sound, waiting for Tyson to play with him—had helped Vitani bring Tyson to the surface. Vitani, Tyson, and Rainbow had been searching the Sea of Monsters ever since, trying to find them. They had been eaten by a giant sea serpent not to long ago, but Vitani had blown them out, literally. When they surfaced from the sea serpent's stomach, Tyson caught the sent of sheep and found this island.

"Tyson, Vitani, thank the gods. Annabeth is hurt!"

"You thank the gods she is hurt?" Tyson asked, confused.

"No!" Percy shook his head and Vitani knelt beside Annabeth, assessing the injuries she had. She cleaned and healed the wound quickly, but she lost quite a bit of blood.

"The Fleece!" Vitani said, the idea just coming to her. She got back onto her broom and flew over, plucking the Golden Fleece off the tree and handing it to Percy, who spread it over Annabeth.

The colour returned to her face, and her eyelids fluttered open. She saw Grover and said weakly, "You're not... married?"

"No, my friends talked me out of it." Grover grinned.

"Okay guys, I'll levitate all of you to the ship." Vitani said, and with a wave of her wand, everyone except Tyson floated high off the ground. "Tyson! Lead the sheep away!"

"Okay!" Tyson said. "Come sheepies!"

Tyson then walked away, the sheep in pursuit.

Vitani then deposited the group onto the beach, where Percy willed the Queen Anne's Revenge to raise anchor and come to them.

"Incoming!" Tyson yelled. He was bounding towards the path to join the group, the sheep were about fifty yards behind, bleating in frustration as their Cyclops friend ran away without feeding them.

"Immobulus!" Vitani shot the spell, overpowering the spell to freeze all of the sheep in place.

Vitani sent Annabeth to the ship first with the fleece, as she was still healing. As Vitani was just about to levitate everyone to the ship, they heard a tremendous roar and saw Polyphemus, scraped up and bruised but still very much alive. His baby-blue wedding outfit was in tatters, and in each of his hands were large boulders.

But the monster's attention wasn't on the Fleece.

"You, young Cyclops!" Polyphemus roared. "Traitor to your kind!"

Tyson froze.

"Don't listen to him!" Percy pleaded. "Come on."

He pulled Tyson's arm, but Percy might as well have been pulling a mountain. Tyson turned and faced the older Cyclops. "I am not a traitor."

"You serve mortals!" Polyphemus shouted. "Thieving humans!"

Polyphemus threw his first boulder. Tyson swatted it aside with his fist.

"Not a traitor." Tyson denied. "And you are  _not_ my kind."

"Death or victory!" Polyphemus charged into the surf, but his foot was still wounded. He immediately stumbled and fell flat on his face. That would've been funny, except he started to get up again, spitting salt water and growling.

He threw his other boulder in anger, and Vitani dodged out out the way. Unfortunately, it hit the Queen Anne's Revenge, and you wouldn't believe how fast it sank.

"ENOUGH OF THIS!" Vitani raged, she summoned her Star wand and took out two Clow cards, and everyone else backed up in fear of what she was going to do next. Percy grabbed onto Annabeth, who was wading in the water with the fleece, to make sure she wouldn't sink. "Big! Power!"

Everyone's eyes bulged as Vitani's form, including her Star wand, grew in size, until she became a giantess five times as big as Polyphemus.

"You've caused us enough trouble!" Vitani spat. She grabbed Polyphemus and threw him high into the air. She then readied her Star wand like a baseball bat. "Batter up!"

When Polyphemus came falling down. Vitani grinned evilly and swung her wand-bat.

**WHAM!**

"And it's a HOMERUN!" Vitani grinned as Polyphemus was sent flying into the distance, he screamed as he disappeared into the horizon.

"Yeah, yeah!" Clarisse cheered.

"Note to self, don't get her angry, or I'll be the next one." Percy whimpered to himself, Annabeth rolled her eyes.

"That was hot." Luke said, smirking as Vitani shrank down to her normal size along with her wand.

Vitani smiled. "Thanks."

"How're we going to leave this island now?" Clarisse asked.

"That won't be a problem. Tyson?" Vitani said, turning to the baby Cyclops, who grinned happily.

"Rainbow! We need your help!" Tyson called.

Just a few moments after Tyson had said that, three familiar looking Hippocampi burst from the sea.

"Two to a Hippocampus except Tyson." Vitani said, getting onto her broom. "Annabeth and Clarisse, Percy and Grover. I'll take my broom with Luke."

Everyone nodded and got into the Hippocampi, except Luke who got onto the broom behind Vitani, wrapping his arms firmly around her waist.

The group then sailed/flew away from the island.

"We... did it." Annabeth said, exhausted before she slumped against the neck of her Hippocampus, asleep.

Soon, everyone fell asleep except Vitani, who just smiled and kept flying, following the Hippocampi. She had gotten enough rest while she and Tyson searched for the rest of the group.

Luke slumped against her back, using her shoulder as a pillow as he snored softly.

* * *

By morning they neared Miami beach. The Hippocampi wouldn't swim any nearer, as there were too many humans and the water was too polluted for them.

They all ended up swimming to the shore after thanking the Hippocampi for their help. Tyson cried a little, unfastening the makeshift saddle pack he'd made. It contained his tool kit and a couple of other things he'd salvaged from the Birminghamwreck with the help of Vitani. He hugged Rainbow around the neck, gave him a soggy mango he'd picked up on the island, and said good-bye.

If anybody noticed them when they reached the shore—seven kids dripping wet and looking like they'd just had a fight with a monster—they didn't let on.

Annabeth ran to the nearest newspaper box and checked the date on the  _MiamiHerald_ _._ She cursed. "June eighteenth! We've been away from camp for ten days!"

"That's impossible!" Clarisse argued.

"Time in the Sea of Monsters must pass differently." Vitani frowned.

"Thalia's tree must almost be dead!" Grover wailed. " We have to get the Fleece back,  _tonight!"_

Clarisse slumped down on the pavement. "How are we supposed to do that?" Her voice trembled. "We're hundreds of miles away. No money. No ride. This is just like the Oracle said It's _your_ fault, Jackson, Castellan! If you two hadn't interfered—"

"Percy's and Luke's fault?" Annabeth exploded. "Clarisse, how can you say that? You are the biggest—"

"Stop it!" Vitani snapped.

Clarisse put her head in hands and Annabeth stomped her foot in frustration.

"Calm down, I can get us there within a few minutes!" Vitani said soothingly.

Annabeth brightened. "That's right! You can teleport!"

"Clarisse. What did the Oracle tell you exactly?" Vitani asked.

Clarisse took a deep breath and recited her Prophecy:

_"You shall sail the iron ship with warriors of bone,_

_You shall find what you seek and make it your own,_

_But despair for your life entombed within stone,_

_And fail without friends, to fly home alone."_

"Ouch." Grover winced.

"No, that's perfect!" Vitani said, brightening.

"It is?" Clarisse asked incredulously, looking slightly offended.

"Yes! Apparation is faster than-" Vitani stopped herself before looking around them, widening her eyes when she spotted the Princess Andromeda at the docks. "No time!"

Vitani grabbed a nearby stick and tapped it with her wand before shoving it into Luke's hands.

"You know what to do, Luke. Sorry, we have to go!" Vitani said. She snatched the Fleece from Annabeth before grabbing Clarisse's arm.

"Hey-" Clarisse protested.

And with a resounding  _crack_ , the two were gone.

"What-?" Percy paused when he felt a sword pointed at his throat.

"Hey, Cousin," Ethan smirked. "Welcome back to the states."

* * *

When they landed in the forest at Long Island Sound, Clarisse fell to her knees and coughed. Wheezing as she gasped for breath.

"What was that?!" Clarisse demanded as she tried to pick herself off the ground.

"Sorry, I just apparated us to Camp Half-Blood." Vitani said.

"Appara-"

"Teleported." Vitani clarified.

"Oh." Clarisse said. "So, which way exactly?"

"Over there." Vitani said, pointing to her right. "Here, this is your quest. You have the right to take the Fleece back to camp."

With that, Vitani put the Golden Fleece into Clarisse's stunned arms.

"But-"

"No, Clarisse. That's what the prophecy meant: you'd fail without friends, meaning you'd need our help, but you'd have to fly home alone. You have to get the Fleece back safely." Vitani explained. "Go on, I'll be right behind you, just invisible."

"R-Right!" Clarisse nodded, her confidence returned as she marched towards the camp, her head held high.

The two trudged through the woods, keeping a look out for any monsters that would attack them. The Fleece's powerful magic and two demigods made for an enticing target after all.

Vitani would kill and blast away the monsters while Clarisse kept the Fleece safe in her arms and out of reach.

When they got there, Clarisse announced her arrival.

All the available campers ran over, they cheered when they saw Clarisse with the Golden Fleece.

"That's the golden fleece?" One camper asked. "I thought it'd be a little more... I dunno..."

"Hey! I busted my ass to get this!" Clarisse snapped.

Everyone watched as Clarisse draped the Golden Fleece over the lowest branch.

A cool breeze rustled in the branches and rippled through the grass, all the way into the valley. Everything came into sharper focus—the glow of the sunlight, the smell of the strawberry fields, the sound of the waves on the beach.

Gradually, the needles on the pine tree started turning from brown to green.

Everybody cheered. It was happening slowly, but there could be no doubt—the Fleece's magic was seeping into the tree, filling it with new power and expelling the poison.

Clarisse was then lifted onto the shoulders of her half brothers, honoured with a golden laurel as everyone prepared for a huge celebration.

No one gave Vitani a second look as she slipped into the crowd, cheering for Clarisse with the rest of them.


	14. Chapter 14

Everyone sat in the dining pavilion. Vitani sat with the Hermes table, under a strong notice-me not-charm so Tantalus wouldn't see her. They were all about to eat when an Iris-message appeared for Mr. D.

In the rainbow, they could see the back of Ethan's head, along with Luke and Percy with their swords ready.

Ethan just sneered. "This is no time for heroics, Percy, Luke. Drop your puny little swords, or I'll have you killed sooner rather than later."

Luke seemed to snort at this.

"Who poisoned Thalia's tree, Ethan?" Percy asked.

"I did, of course!" He snarled. "I already told you that. I used elder python venom, straight from the depths of Tartarus."

"Chiron had nothing to do with it?" Luke was the one who asked this time.

"Ha! You know he would never do that. The old fool wouldn't have the guts."

"You call it guts? Betraying your friends? Endangering the whole camp?" Percy said incredulously.

Ethan raised his sword. "You don't understand the half of it. I was going to let you take the Fleece... once I was done with it."

Luke and Percy furrowed their brows at that.

"You were going to heal Kronos." Luke concluded.

"Yes! The Fleece's magic would've sped his mending process by tenfold. But you haven't stopped us, Luke, Percy. You've only slowed us down a little."

"And so you poisoned the tree, dishonoured Thalia, you set us up—all to help Kronos destroy the gods." Luke said with finality.

Ethan gritted his teeth. "You know that! Why do you keep asking me?"

"Because we want everybody in the audience to hear you." Luke said, smirking smugly.

" _What_ audience?" Ethan's eyes narrowed. He looked behind him and his goons did the same. They gasped and stumbled back.

Dionysus, Tantalus, and the whole camp in the dining pavilion stared at the Iris-message in shock.

"Well," Dionysus said dryly, "some unplanned dinner entertainment."

"Mr. D, you heard him." Luke said. "You all heard Ethan. The poisoning of Thalia's tree wasn't Chiron's fault."

Mr. D sighed. "I suppose not."

"The Iris-message could be a trick." Tantalus suggested, but his attention was mostly on his cheeseburger, which he was trying to corner with both hands.

"I fear not." Mr. D said, looking at Tantalus with distaste. "It appears I shall have to reinstate Chiron as activities director. I suppose I do miss the old horse's pinochle games."

Tantalus grabbed the cheeseburger. It didn't bolt away from him. He lifted it from the plate and stared at it in amazement, as if it were the largest diamond in the world. "I got it!" he cackled.

"We are no longer in need of your services, Tantalus." Mr. D announced.

Tantalus looked stunned. "What? But—"

"You may return to the Underworld. You are dismissed."

"No! But—Nooooooooooo!"

As he dissolved into mist, his fingers clutched at the cheeseburger, trying to bring it to his mouth. But it was too late. He disappeared and the cheeseburger fell back onto its plate. The campers exploded into cheers.

Ethan bellowed with rage before the Iris-message was cut off with a slash of his sword.

* * *

The rest of the group arrived later on with Chiron's relatives, the Party Ponies. They didn't use Vitani's Portkey after all, so Luke snapped it into pieces to prevent others from accidentally using it. As soon was Chiron stepped into the camp, he ordered a 24/7 watch on the Fleece, until they could get a proper monster guard it. Vitani took down her old barriers and added new ones for the Fleece for extra protection.

When everyone was roasting marshmallows late that night, no one gave Vitani, Percy, Luke, Tyson, or Annabeth a second look. It was most likely the best thank you they could give them for helping. If their fellow campers admitted that they had snuck out of the camp to do the quest, they'd have to expel them.

For Vitani and Percy, they liked being just another person in the crowd. Tyson just didn't care, neither did Luke and Annabeth, they were happy enough with the knowledge that they had each played a big part in the retrieval of the Fleece.

* * *

The next day, after the Party Ponies headed back to Florida, Chiron made a surprise announcement: the chariot races would go ahead as planned. They all figured that they were history now that Tantalus was gone, but completing them did feel like the right thing to do. Especially now that Chiron was back and the camp was safe.

The next morning, everybody was buzzing about the chariot race, though they kept glancing nervously toward the sky like they expected to see Stymphalian birds gathering. None did. It was a beautiful summer day with blue sky and plenty of sunshine. The camp had started to look the way it should look: the meadows were green and lush; the white columns gleamed on the Greek buildings; dryads played happily in the woods.

Luke and Vitani grinned as the race was about to start, they had added all sorts of traps and modifications to their magic chariot.

When Chiron blew the starting signal, each racer shot down the track.

Luke and Vitani quickly pulled ahead of the others. Vitani drove the chariot again and Luke fought off the Apollo chariot.

"You're mine!" The Apollo fighter yelled, confident. He was a first year camper, and obviously he didn't know that Luke was the best fighter in the camp. Vitani, everyone could agree, was the strongest one.

Luke smirked. "Not happening, rookie!" With that, he knocked the Apollo fighter off his chariot expertly with his javelin and jammed it into their wheels. The wheel broke off, sending the driver toppling out of his chariot. Their horses felt the reigns slack and went crazy, riding straight for the crowd. Campers scrambled for cover as the horses leaped the corner of the bleachers and the golden chariot flipped over. The horses then galloped back towards their stable, dragging the upside-down chariot behind them.

Luke gave a predatory grin, his javelin wasn't even scratched, as it was charmed with an unbreakable charm.

Annabeth was now behind them, with the Hephaestus team behind them in return.

Beckendorf grinned as he pressed a button on his command console. Steel cables shot out the front of his mechanical horses, wrapping around Annabeth's and Percy's back rail. Their chariot shuddered, pulling them backwards while Beckendorf pulled himself forwards.

Clarisse, who had managed to dodge the carnage left behind the three chariots, came up, gaining on Luke and Vitani as Percy fought with Beckendorf.

Luke grinned while Vitani smirked. Luke pointed his javelin at Clarisse's skeletal horses.

"Colloshoo!" Luke said, activating the runes inscribed onto his javelin handle. The javelin itself shot out a clear goo from the head. The goo stuck to the skeletal horses, sticking their legs together and making them trip and fall down. Clarisse and her fighter cursed and jumped out of their Chariot before it crashed into their horses.

Vitani and Luke turned to see Annabeth and Percy right beside them, having gotten rid of the Hephaestus team.

Luke took out Backbiter and clashed with Percy, who was wielding Riptide. Sparks flew at the two chariots raced neck and neck.

Vitani then smiled, though she easily could've shot a spell that would've given them the win. She decided to make it a tie, to share the victory.

Chiron chuckled as he knew exactly what had gone on in that race, so he declared the race a tie and the two teams won. The spectators all mobbed them. Luke and Vitani were being carried by the Hermes cabin and Percy and Annabeth were carried by the Athena cabin.

"Hold up! Listen! It wasn't just us!" Annabeth said, yelling over the crowd whom didn't want to be quiet. "We couldn't have done it without somebody else! We couldn't have won this race or gotten the Fleece or saved Grover or anything! We owe our lives to Tyson, Percy's..."

"Brother!" Percy said, loud enough for everybody to hear. "Tyson, my baby brother."

Tyson blushed and the crowd cheered. Annabeth then planted a kiss on Percy's cheek, making Vitani and Luke smirk at them knowingly. It was only a matter of time before they got together.

The roaring got a lot louder after that. The Athena cabin then lifted Tyson as well. The five winners were carried towards the winner's platform, where Chiron was waiting to bestow the laurel wreaths.

That afternoon was one of the happiest times of that summer.

Grover announced that he'd be able to spend the rest of the summer with them before resuming his quest for Pan. His bosses at the Council of Cloven Elders were so impressed that he hadn't gotten himself killed and had cleared the way for future searchers, that they granted him a two-month furlough and a new set of reed pipes. The only bad news: Grover insisted on playing those pipes all afternoon long, and his musical skills hadn't improved much.

As for Tyson, the campers treated him like a hero. But he was leaving early that summer, as Poseidon sent him a dream message and wanted him to visit the Cyclopes' forges for an internship there.

Tyson said he wanted to go to learn how to make things, weapons for the camp, saying that they'd need them one day.

Although their group was sad to see their new friend and brother go, they knew that Tyson was right. The Fleece hadn't solved all the camp's problems. Ethan was still out there, gathering an army aboard the Princess Andromeda, and Kronos was still re-forming in his golden coffin.

Percy smiled however when he saw what was hammered into the bronze of his new shield. They were pictures in Ancient Greek style, scenes from our adventures this summer. There was Annabeth slaying a Laistrygonian dodgeball player, Percy fighting the bronze bulls on Half-Blood Hill, Tyson riding Rainbow toward the Princess Andromeda, Tyson battling the Hydra as he held aloft a box of Monster Donuts, the CSS Birmingham blasting its cannons at Charybdis, Tyson and Vitani sailing with Rainbow as they searched the sea of monsters, Tyson and Vitani getting eaten by the sea serpent, the defeat of Polyphemus at Vitani's hands, the retrieval of the Golden Fleece, their encounter with Ethan at Miami Beach, riding with the Party Ponies, and the Golden Fleece hanging on Thalia's tree.

It was incredibly detailed, and Percy loved it. In fact, he had to blink the tears from his eyes.

* * *

A storm raged that night, but it parted around Camp Half-Blood as storms usually did. Lightning flashed against the horizon, waves pounded the shore, but not a drop fell in their valley. They were protected again, thanks to the Fleece, sealed inside their magical borders.

Vitani sighed as she wrapped a fluffy white towel around herself, stepping out of her bathroom. Beads of water rolled down her bare form, it was an enticing sight that Luke couldn't resist.

He came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. He planted gentle kisses along her bare shoulders and neck, making her smile and sigh happily.

"Hello, gorgeous." Luke greeted, having snuck into her cabin, again. Vitani had special wards up, only those keyed into the wards would be allowed in. Those few were Clarisse, Percy, Annabeth, Grover, Tyson, Chiron, Mr. D (though as a god, he could bypass the wards if he really wanted to), and obviously Luke.

Luke was the only one who constantly visited her cabin however, and slept over often.

"Hello, handsome." Vitani replied, giggling as she turned around to give Luke a brief kiss.

"Hey, I want to give you something." Luke said, smiling.

The way Luke's cheeks reddened made Vitani eager to know what it was.

When he got down on one knee in front of her however, she gasped. Luke took both her hands into his and took a deep breath.

"Vitani, we've been together for two years now, and we've been through so much together." Luke started. "I love you more than anything or anyone else in this world. There is nothing I wouldn't do to keep you safe. When I thought I had lost you for the second time, I felt like someone had just ripped my heart out of my chest, like a big part of me was missing. When you appeared, unharmed with Tyson, you wouldn't believe how relieved I was. I knew then how much I need you in my life. You keep me grounded, you guide me when I lose my way, you comfort me when I'm emotional, and you do everything in your power to support me. You  _are_  my life, Vitani. There are no words I can say that can truly describe and tell you how much I love you."

Tears ran down Vitani's face. "Luke..."

"Let me finish, please, before I lose my courage to do this." Luke said, pulling a small velvet box from his pocket. He opened it to reveal a beautiful Emerald white gold ring with rows of sparkling diamonds on both sides. "Vitani Rosalie Potter-Black, will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?"

"YES!" Vitani jumped at Luke, hugging him tightly as she cried in happiness. Luke hugged her back, grinning widely before slipping the ring onto her ring finger.

"Oh Luke, it's beautiful." Vitani said, marvelling the ring with a dreamy expression. "But how did you-?"

"Afford it?" Luke asked sheepishly. "I actually prayed to my father, he sent me some money along with a note of congratulations. I also melted down the leftover Galleons I had with Beckendorf's help, and sold it. All of that together was enough to buy this perfect ring."

"Do you have a-?"

"Ring too? Yeah." Luke grinned and held up his left hand, a plain white gold band adorned his ring finger.

Vitani just smiled and started to cry again.

Luke cupped her face with his hands and kissed her, running his hands through her damp hair. He then lifted her up bridal style and carried her to the bed, setting her down gently.

**LEMON ALERT**

He removed his own shirt before removing Vitani's towel, letting him take in her bare body like he had many times before.

"So beautiful." Luke said, leaning down to kiss her again before he flipped her to be on all fours. He then peppered kisses along Vitani's neck and spine, making her shiver and grip the bedsheets.

Vitani jolted in surprise when she felt Luke spread her lower lips open and push his tongue into her. She buried her face into her pillow to keep her from crying out too loudly as he continued to stroke her with his wet muscle.

Luke then removed his tongue and replace it with his fingers instead, easily finding her sweet spot as he rubbed her clit.

When Luke soon removed his fingers too, Vitani gave a whining roan before she heard the sounds of the rest of Luke's clothing hit the floor with a  _thump._

"Ready?" Luke asked. Vitani snapped her fingers, making Luke glow blue from the contraceptive spell.

Vitani then nodded and moaned when she felt Luke enter her. He quickly started a steady pace, leaning over her and holding her left hand with his own, entwining their fingers together. His right hand massaged her breasts.

Luke grunted and groaned at the feel of Vitani's hot wet walls wrapping around him so tightly. He shifted slightly, changing his angle to hit her sweet spot that would make her scream.

"AHH!" Vitani cried out. "Oh! Mmm—Luke!"

"That's it—ah—Vitani, more—hah—yes?" Luke asked, whispering hotly into her ear as he panted slightly from exertion. He gave a particularly hard thrust, making her moan loudly.

"Yes! More!" Vitani pleaded.

"As you wish!" Luke said, wrapping right arm around her waist as he moved faster, thrusting harder into her.

Vitani tried to muffle her moans, but they couldn't be stifled as easily as she wished when Luke moved like that.

Luke planted kisses on her shoulders, nipping the skin and leaving love bites that stood out brightly against her porcelain skin.

"So close, Luke!" Vitani gasped.

Luke grunted and started to rub her clit, with that, it wasn't long before Vitani came with a loud cry. He moaned when he felt her walls contract around him so deliciously. With a few more thrusts, Luke came was well, spilling his seed inside her.

Vitani groaned when Luke continued to thrust into her, riding out their climax before he collapsed to her side, pulling Vitani down with him.

**END LEMON**

The two laid there, panting and cooling down.

"A shower perhaps?" Luke asked when he caught his breath. Vitani smiled, rolling her eyes before waving her hand, cleaning them of sweat and other bodily fluids in less than a second.

She then held his hand, her engagement ring sparkling on her finger.

"I love you." She said.

"I love you too."

With that, the two fell asleep, both with smiles on their faces.

* * *

The two newly engaged couple woke up with a start when someone banged on their door.

The banging seemed urgent, so the two dressed as quickly as they could before opening the door, only to see Grover standing in Vitani's living room, looking frantic and panicked.

"Luke! Vitani! Annabeth... on the hill... she..." Grover stammered. "I'm going to go tell Percy!"

With that, Grover flew out the door, as if someone had announced that they were serving cheese enchiladas for breakfast.

Luke and Vitani looked at each other before arming themselves, Vitani also grabbed her satchel bag.

The two ran outside, sprinting for the top of Half-Blood where a small crowd started to gather.

When the pushed their way through and saw a girl lying at the base of the tree. Luke froze at the sight, Vitani tried to snap him out of it, but it was no use, his eyes were glued to unconscious girl.

"Curse the titan lord." Chiron said, arriving with Percy and Grover. "He's tricked us again, given himself another chance to control the prophecy."

"What do you mean?" Percy asked when he jumped off Chiron's back.

"The Fleece," he said. "The Fleece did its work too well."

"It did?" Percy asked, confused.

"It healed the tree," Chiron explained, his voice ragged. "And poison was not the only thing it purged."

Annabeth saw them immediately and ran to Chiron. "It... she... just suddenly there..."

Percy was quick to kneel at the girl's side, with Vitani following quickly.

The girl had short black hair and freckles across her nose. She was built like a long-distance runner, lithe and strong, and she wore clothes that were somewhere between punk and Goth—a black T-shirt, black tattered jeans, and a leather jacket with buttons from a bunch of various punk bands.

"It's true." Grover said. "I can't believe..."

Nobody else came close to the girl other than Vitani and Percy.

"Is she okay, Vitani?" Percy asked.

Vitani waved her hand over her, narrowing her eyes before nodding. "She's fine, and she'll wake up soon."

Percy moved her into a sitting position. They didn't have to wait a moment longer until the girl took a shaky breath, coughing and opening her startlingly electric blue eyes.

The girl stared at Percy and Vitani with bewilderment, shivering and wild-eyed. "Who-"

"I'm Percy, and this is Vitani." Percy said. "You're safe now."

"Strangest dream..." The girl muttered.

"It's okay." Vitani soothed.

"Dying."

"No." Percy assured. "You're okay. What's your name?"

It was then they remembered what Chiron had said.  _Another chance to control the prophecy._

Even Chiron, Luke, Annabeth, and Grover, who should've been celebrating this moment, were too shocked, thinking about what it might mean for the future.

"I'm Thalia," The girl said. "Daughter of Zeus."

* * *

"Are you okay, Luke?" Vitani asked after Thalia was sent to the Big House so Chiron could check her over and so Mr. D could be notified of the situation.

"Yeah. I know I should be feeling happy, but I'm just... overwhelmed I suppose." Luke said, holding Vitani's hand and absently played with her fingers. He stared at her engagement ring thoughtfully.

Vitani noticed and frowned. "Do you regret... proposing to me now that Thalia is alive again?"

Luke went wide eyed and turned to her instantly. Vitani's eyes were full of fear, hurt, and slight jealousy.

"No, Vitani! How could you ever think that?" Luke asked, concerned.

"It's just, you used to like Thalia so..." Vitani said, looking away.

"No, no." Luke shook his head. "I mean, yes, I did used to like Thalia. And I still care for her, but I love  _you."_

Luke pulled her to his chest.

"Vitani, I'll be honest. A part of me will always care for Thalia, but you... you are my  _life_. My  _soul mate._ I would never,  _never,_ leave you for her just because she's here, alive again. I had spent 6, nearly 7 years believing that she was dead, believing that she was in Elysium or maybe even trying for the Isle of Blessed. I moved on." Luke said sincerely. "And honestly, what I had for her back then was a crush, a crush we never acted upon. So I care for Thalia, yes, but I do not love her the way I love you. And she's going to have to accept that, I'm not sure what her feelings for me right now are, but I will let her know her as soon as I can."

Vitani nodded and smiled tearfully. The two shared a brief kiss before Annabeth came towards them.

"How is she?" Luke asked, turning to Annabeth.

"She's resting at the Big House for now, but Chiron said her time in the tree had slowed down her ageing. She looks to be about 15-17 physically." Annabeth answered before she noticed something sparkling on Vitani's finger. She gasped when she realized what it was. "Is that-"

Luke looked extremely proud and gazed at Vitani lovingly, to which she smiled back and kissed his cheek.

"Yeah, I proposed to her last night."

Annabeth widened her eyes, she then hurried over to Vitani and grabbed her left hand from Luke, looking at the ring with awe.

"It's gorgeous! Congratulations you two." Annabeth said excitedly before she realized something. "But Luke, how did you even afford a ring like this?"

"My dad, I prayed to him." Luke said.

"Good for you!" Annabeth smiled.

* * *

When lunch came, it was very sunny and everyone noticed the sparkle of Vitani's engagement ring.

Almost every girl rushed to Vitani, all of them wanted to get a close look at the ring and ask about wedding plans.

"Oh! It's beautiful, Vitani!"

"High quality diamonds! How perfect!"

"The emerald matches your eyes."

"You're so lucky, Vitani! Luke is so hot and sweet!"

"If he hurts you, Vitani, I'll beat him up for you. I ain't afraid to break his pretty boy jaw!" Clarisse smirked, cracking her knuckles and glaring at Luke in a very threatening manner.

Luke however was too busy being congratulated to notice Clarisse's deathly stare. He was surrounded by his friends, being clapped on the back.

"I can't believe you're getting married, man!"

"You're going to be whipped for good!"

"How'd you even afford a ring like that?"

"Lucky bastard! Vitani is smokin' hot!"

It was hard  _not_  to notice the ring with the way it sparkled because of the diamonds decorating it. Perhaps that was what Luke had been going for, to make sure everyone knew that Vitani was  _engaged_  to  _him_. Therefore, off limits. He may as well have stamped ' **Property of Luke Castellan, do not touch!** ' on Vitani's forehead. Though the witch seemed oblivious to this fact.

"When is the wedding, Vitani?" Silena Beauregard asked.

"We haven't decided the date, but we asked Chiron and Mr. D not to long ago for permission to have the wedding here. We met here, in Camp Half-Blood after all." Vitani said.

"Here? A wedding here? Oh! How exciting!"

The girls giggled and squealed, giving suggestions and ideas for the wedding.

 


	15. Chapter 15

When Thalia woke the next morning, Annabeth was at her bedside, reading a book.

"Mmm? Annabeth?" Thalia asked, looking at her old friend.

"Thalia! You're awake!" Annabeth said, brightening as she helped the daughter of Zeus to sit up in her bed. "Here, have some nectar."

"Thanks." Thalia nodded, taking small sips from the cup she was handed.

"How're you feeling?" Annabeth said, closing her book.

"Fine, a bit tired though."

"That's normal. Chiron said you'd be okay to leave by noon."

"That's fine. Where's Luke? Is he okay?" Thalia asked.

"Luke is fine, but Thalia, you should know something. About Luke that is." Annabeth said hesitantly.

"What? Is he injured?" Thalia asked, confused.

"No, nothing like that. Um... how do I say this...?" Annabeth mumbled.

"Just tell me!" Thalia said, getting impatient.

"Alright, alright!" Annabeth said, taking a deep breath. "Luke has a fiance."

Thalia paused. "A what, sorry?"

"A fiance." Annabeth said, looking as though she was about to run for cover.

"WHAT! HE'S GETTING MARRIED? SINCE WHEN? WHO IS SHE?!" Thalia exploded with both hurt and extreme surprise.

"Her name is Vitani Potter." Annabeth started.

"Daughter of who?"

"Hecate."

"Hecate, Hecate... the minor goddess of Witchcraft?" Thalia asked.

"Yeah. She came to camp about two and a half years ago, and Luke starting dating her a few months after she arrived. They got engaged just a couple days ago." Annabeth said, holding Thalia's hand.

"Luke... he... how could he... he's getting married?" Thalia asked, hurt as she thought of her best friend and crush.

"I'm so sorry, Thalia, Luke was actually going to tell you himself." Annabeth apologized.

Thalia sighed, she put her cup of nectar on the bedside table and leaned back into her bed. "You don't have to apologize, Annabeth. Luke's the one who fell in love and is getting married, not you. We weren't even dating anyways, he had every right to move on."

"But you still love him." Annabeth said, and it wasn't a question.

"I know." Thalia said. She didn't even want to think about what Zoe Nightshade had said when she refused to join Artemis' hunters because of Luke. While Luke might not have let her down, he had moved on and fell in love with someone else. "What is she like? Vitani Potter?"

"She's... perfect." Annabeth answered hesitantly.

Thalia groaned.

"I mean, she's beautiful. She has long dark hair, and bright green eyes. She's got a figure most girls would die for. She's athletic, she's an incredible fighter, the strongest one at the camp. She's British, she can do magic, she has an exciting job, she's a great medic, she's smart, she's incredibly kind, strong, a great cook, a fantastic singer, wealthy-"

"I get it! She's perfect!" Thalia whined. "Luke got himself a perfect witch princess."

"Sorry." Annabeth apologized.

A knock at the door interrupted Thalia before she could further rant.

"Come in!" Annabeth called.

Luke was the one who walked in, and Thalia drank in his form like a desert for water. Her cheeks pinked when she looked at him.

Luke was even more handsome than Thalia had imagined he would be, not that he wasn't good looking when he was younger, but his matured looks exceeded that of his boyhood cuteness. He was taller, more athletic looking and muscular. His features had sharpened and he lost all of his baby fat, but now there was a scar on his face under his right eye that went down to his jaw. His eyes were still the same sky blue, his sandy blonde hair still short-cropped, but his skin was slightly darker. Thalia mused that it was because of all the training he had probably done in the sun. Her eyes were then pulled over to his left hand, where a white gold band gleamed on his ring finger.

"Is this a good time?" Luke asked, and Thalia shivered slightly from the sound of his deeper tone of voice.

"Yeah, it's fine. Come in." Thalia nodded, sitting up once more as Luke sat on the other side of Thalia, opposite of Annabeth.

"You okay?" Luke asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Thalia replied. "How's it going with you?"

"Good." Luke nodded.

There was an awkward silence between the three.

"Why don't you two just tell me what had happened while I was stuck in a tree?" Thalia suggested.

The tension broke after that as Thalia spent the next couple hours catching up with Luke and Annabeth. They told her about the training they did, funny stories about themselves or their cabin mates, about Luke's failed quest, Vitani's arrival and the changes she had done to the Hermes cabin, Percy's arrival, the quest they went on with Percy to retrieve the Master Bolt, about Annabeth trying to reconnect with her family and Luke travelling around the world with Vitani, Tyson, the poisoning of her tree, Tantalus, retrieving the Golden Fleece from Polyphemus' island in the Sea of Monsters and saving Grover, the party ponies, the Chariot races, and Ethan's betrayal and his service to Kronos' revival.

"Wow." Thalia said. "A lot has happened in six and a half years."

Luke and Annabeth nodded.

"Um, Annabeth, can I talk to Thalia in private?" Luke asked.

"Oh, right!" Annabeth nodded. She quickly gathered up her things and headed out the door, closing it with a soft  _click._

The tension between Luke and Thalia came back as they were now alone.

"So... I heard you're getting married." Thalia said, fiddling with her bedsheets.

"Yeah, well... Thalia, I'm sorry." Luke apologized. "I know we cared about each other more than just as friends back then, but I moved on. I still care about you, I really do, but just as a friend now, or maybe even as a sister."

"So, there is no hope for us anymore?" Thalia asked, tears gathered in her eyes.

"No, I'm sorry, Thalia. I'm completely in love with Vitani, and I can't—won't—give her up for a relationship between us that might not even work." Luke said. "I don't even know what would've happened between us if you hadn't been turned into a tree. Vitani would've still come to camp, and I still might've fallen in love with her. There is no way of knowing."

Thalia nodded tearfully, but she refused to let any fall while Luke was still there.

"Is she good to you?" Thalia asked.

"She's amazing, and I'm incredibly lucky to have her." Luke said sincerely.

"If she ever hurts you, tell me, so I can kick her ass."

Luke chuckled. "I'm not sure how a fight between you two would go, but thanks anyways."

"Yeah... sorry, can you leave? I just want to be alone right now."

Luke looked at her sadly before nodding. He placed a gentle kiss on her cheek before leaving quietly.

Thalia knew what that kiss was, it was a  _goodbye_  kiss.

When she heard his footsteps fade away, the daughter of Zeus did something that she hadn't had done in a long time, she cried.

* * *

"How'd it go?" Vitani asked, taking one of Luke's hands into hers.

"Fine, better than I thought." Luke said quietly, his usual mischievous smile was absent from his face. "She's probably crying right now."

"Do you want to be alone?"

"Yeah, sorry, Vitani. I think I'm going to go train." Luke said.

"It's okay, Luke. I understand." Vitani said softly, she then walked away, leaving Luke to his thoughts. She really did understand, Luke had just gotten the closure he needed after so long.

* * *

It was a day later that Thalia had finally met Vitani, introduced for the first time. The daughter of Zeus eyed the highly noticeable engagement ring on Vitani's left hand with envy.

"My name is Thalia, daughter of Zeus. You better treat Luke right or I'll kick your ass."

Though Annabeth and Luke facepalmed, Vitani merely smiled.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Thalia. Luke has told me much about you. My name is Vitani Rosalie Potter-Black, daughter of Hecate."

The two then shook hands, Thalia tried to shock her with a bit of electricity, but nothing happened, much to her confusion.

"As the daughter of Zeus, I know you have Electrokinesis. I was prepared." Vitani said, smiling as she guessed what was on Thalia's mind.

"Thalia..." Luke sighed.

"What?" Thalia asked, innocently, Luke didn't believe it for a second and neither did Annabeth. But Vitani did earn some of Thalia's respect for being able to counter her small attack.

Thalia then turned to Percy.

"Hey, Thalia, my name is Percy Jackson."

"So you're the Son of Poseidon, eh?" Thalia asked rhetorically, eyeing the boy.

"Yes...?" Percy asked, unnerved as to why Thalia was eyeing him like that.

"I guess I have to thank you, and Vitani too, without your help, I might've been still stuck as a pine tree." Thalia said, holding out her hand.

Percy took it hesitantly, but when Thalia didn't try to shock him like she did with Vitani, he relaxed. Thalia looked amused by his reaction.

"Well, I'm going to go train now. I need to get back into shape." Thalia said.

"I have your spear and shield." Annabeth said.

"Great, let's go then."

When the two girls left, Vitani spoke up. "I think I'm going to train as well. Luke, Percy, want to spar?"

"Yeah, sure, sounds fun." Luke smirked. "I'm going to win though, just to let you know that there's no hard feelings."

Percy grinned. "Yeah, right.  _I'm_  the one who's going to win."

* * *

In the end, it was Luke who won, they didn't call him the best swordsman within the last three centuries for nothing, but Vitani and Percy both did put up a good fight.

That night, nearly every camper was staring at Thalia, who sat alone at the Zeus table, just as Percy sat by himself at the Poseidon table and Vitani at the Hecate table.

Mr. D had introduced her in his normal non enthusiastic way, calling her Tina Grayson.

After dinner was over, the Apollo cabin led everyone through some camp songs before they were herded back to their cabin.

* * *

"What do I do, Annabeth? I know Luke is taken and is going to be happily married soon, but I'm still falling for him, UGH!" Thalia groaned.

"You have to stop thinking about him." Annabeth said.

"I can't!" Thalia complained. "No matter what I do, my eyes always end up landing on him. Even when he isn't there, I always look for him!"

"Well, you could try dating another guy." Annabeth suggested.

"Who? Percy?" Thalia asked, incredulous that Annabeth would even suggest such a thing.

"No!" Annabeth said quickly, too quickly.

Thalia narrowed her eyes at her before she smirked. "Oh, so that's it, huh? I thought you had a crush on Luke too, but I get it now. You like Percy, don't you?"

Annabeth blushed. "N-No! Why would you even think that! There's nothing between me and him!"

"Yet." Thalia added with a sly grin.

"Ugh, you're impossible!" Annabeth sighed, frustrated.

* * *

For Vitani's 21st birthday, Annabeth decided that it was a good idea to bake a cake for her, and now was the perfect time since Vitani was out doing a Curse Breaking job and wouldn't be back til late in the evening after dinner.

Grover suggested a cake made with strawberries, since their camp was a strawberry farm after all, they were easily accessible and Chiron wouldn't mind them taking a small basket.

"Okay, maybe we can find a recipe on her laptop or maybe she has a cookbook." Annabeth said.

"Here!" Luke said, pulling a book off the shelf. It was a thick brown book with a picture of a cake and cookies on the front, and it had a lot of colourful sticky tabs between the pages.

"Great!" Annabeth said before she looked inside the book and cursed. "Oh no! I forgot she doesn't have dyslexia! This book is in English!"

Everyone groaned.

"Great, now what, Wise Girl?" Clarisse asked, irritated. She had been reluctantly pulled along to join their group, since she was a friend (maybe not a close friend, but still, a friend) of Vitani's and one of the few people who were keyed into her wards.

"I can read it out loud, and Annabeth could re-write them in Ancient Greek maybe?" Grover suggested. As a Satyr, he didn't have dyslexia.

"Right! Satyrs don't have dyslexia!" Annabeth brightened. "Good job, Grover. Here, let me get a pen and paper..."

"Uhh, maybe not pen and paper, but she has quills and parchment instead." Percy said, searching Vitani's desk, but found nothing but a stack of parchment and a quill pen.

"What century does she live in?" Thalia asked. She wasn't keyed into Vitani's wards, but Luke had the permission to let others in. "Quills and Parchment, seriously?"

"Wizards are very behind in technology." Luke answered as Annabeth got ready to copy down what Grover was going to read aloud.

"Which cake do you guys want to make?" Grover asked.

"Which ones involve strawberries?" Luke asked.

"Uhh... well there's vanilla strawberry shortcake, Strawberry tarts, oh! How about this Chocolate strawberry cake with Vanilla icing?" Grover suggested, showing the group the picture of the cake.

"Perfect!" Annabeth said.

"Good, now what do we need, and what does Vitani have in her kitchen right now?" Luke asked.

After the ingredient search, everyone was relieved. Vitani already had all the ingredients they needed except the strawberries.

So Percy was sent to go fetch a basket of them while everyone got the ingredients ready for easy access.

"Okay, Clarisse, can you preheat the oven to 350 degrees?" Annabeth asked.

Clarisse nodded and turned the over nob.

"Okay next is..."

* * *

Everyone was relieved when the cake was finished, and it was only thanks to Annabeth's skill in arts and crafts, that it looked acceptable. It didn't looked as nice as the one in the picture, but it was nice enough.

They decided that when the birthday girl arrived, they would wouldn't try to surprise her. Vitani had lived through a war, and she was an amazing fighter, who knows what spells she might accidentally shoot at them from surprise or battle instinct.

* * *

Vitani hummed to herself as she entered Camp Half-Blood. She contently walked to her cabin, where she sensed a group of people inside. Concluding that it was Luke and the rest of her friends, she walked inside, but still had her wand at the ready.

She smiled when saw did indeed see her group of friends in her kitchen.

"Happy Birthday, Vitani!" The all chorused together. Luke walked up to her and gave her a kiss on her cheek before leading her to the kitchen.

The group parted to reveal a cake with white frosting, sliced strawberries, and chocolate shavings on top.

"Aww, you guys." Vitani smiled, setting her satchel bag down. "Did you make this?"

"Yeah, from scratch." Clarisse said, looking proud of herself. "For our first time baking, we did pretty well. I made the icing."

"I picked and cut the strawberries and shaved the chocolate." Percy spoke up.

"I made the batter with Thalia and Grover." Luke said.

"And I put the cake together and decorated it." Annabeth said.

"And we all put in the 21 candles for your birthday." Grover finished.

"Thank you." Vitani said, hugging everyone, including Thalia.

"C'mon then, blow out your candles and make a wish!" Annabeth grinned.

Vitani looked at her cake.  _'I wish for a long and happy life with Luke.'_ She then took a deep breath and blew out her candles.

"What did you wish for?" Percy asked before Annabeth hit him over the head.

"Seaweed brain, her wish won't come true if she says it out loud."

"Oh yeah, I forgot."

They had all gotten her new charms for her bracelet, but it was getting full so Annabeth thought ahead and got another one. She got a spear charm from Clarisse, a goat charm from Grover, a sailboat charm from Percy, a lightning bolt charm from Thalia, a book charm from Annabeth, and a intertwined pair of rings charm from Luke.

Hecate had also given her a gift, a tiny vial of Phoenix tears. Hermione had given her a new book as usual, Ron and George gave her some new prank products, Fleur gave her a beautiful dress, Ginny gave her a bottle of perfume that smelled like lilies.

The cake was delicious in the end, everyone was happy with the results, and even took some of the left over cake with them.

After everyone was about to leave, Vitani remembered that she had brought souvenirs back for everyone, including Thalia.

She had went to Japan this time, and she brought everybody back a bag of star candies and fruit fizzy candies.

Everyone then said their goodbyes, and Luke was left alone with Vitani.

"So, Happy birthday, my darling little fiance." Luke said, grinning cheekily.

Vitani giggled. "Little?"

"Yes, little. I'm 6'1", you're 5'4"." Luke said, comparing his height to hers with his hand. "To me, that's little."

Vitani pouted and smacked his chest, making him laugh.

"Come sleep with me tonight?" Vitani asked, yawning.

"As you wish, my Princess." Luke smiled, bowing dramatically.


	16. Chapter 16

Soon, summer was over and only the year rounders, now including Thalia, remained.

Luke and Vitani also decided to put the wedding on hold, as they didn't know whether or not Ethan's monster army would attack the camp, especially after finding out that he had spies at amongst the demigod campers. They didn't know who the trust anymore.

* * *

Thalia frowned when she saw Vitani alone in the woods, practising her swordsmanship with some sort of spirit girl, like the ones she saw on Vitani's magic cards.

The spirit resembled a teenage girl with cropped shoulder length hair, piercing sky blue eyes and her hair in two long odangos. She wore a blue leotard with white trimmings and a red triangle on her chest, long tail fins, long finger-less gloves with high, wide finned cuffs on the tops, and guards on the back of the hands, and a pair of blue and white thigh-length boots. She was wielding a rapier like sword she had seen Vitani wield on many occasions.

Now, Vitani was wielding another sword, one made from celestial bronze.

It seemed that Vitani was always losing, but the witch just wiped the sweat off her forehead and kept going, taking an occasional drink of water. Luke was nowhere in sight as he had chores to do with the rest of his cabin.

Thalia bit her lip, she couldn't help but always feel jealous of Vitani. She knew Vitani was generally a great girl, but it didn't lessen the jealousy she would feel whenever she saw her with Luke.

Despite everything, Thalia still loved the son of Hermes. Even if he was getting married to the girl of his dreams, and even if he only saw her as a friend. She still loved him.

And because of that, Thalia couldn't bring herself to be as close to Vitani as Annabeth or Percy. She would always wish that she was in Vitani's place, the person whom Luke loved more than anyone else, whom Luke would look at with that loving smile. Deep down, Thalia would always resent Vitani for being in the place where she wished to be the most, at Luke's side.

"Hey, Vitani!" Thalia called out when the witch was taking a small break.

"Hmm?" Vitani looked up to see Thalia walking towards her. "Oh! Thalia! Can I help you with something?"

Thalia steeled herself, she didn't know exactly what she hoped to accomplish by doing this, but it seemed like a good idea at the time.

"Fight me." Thalia said, looking extremely serious.

"What?" Vitani asked, thinking she had misheard the daughter of Zeus.

"I want you to fight me!" Thalia demanded, starting to get angry. All the emotions she had buried since she had woke and had been informed about Luke reached new heights, all the anger, the jealousy, and the sorrow was now pouring out of her, unable to be contained any longer.

"But I-" Vitani was cut off when Thalia charged at her, Aegis appeared on her arm and her spear in her hand, pointing directly at her.

Vitani dived out of the way, pulling out her wand as she did so and immediately fired a stunning spell at Thalia, but it ended up bouncing off her shield.

Thalia then charged at her again, trying to stab her with her spear, or at the least touch her. But Vitani knew that Thalia could channel electricity throughout her body, so touching her was a big no-no.

So the fight kept going like that, Thalia would charge and attack, while Vitani would dodge and defend.

"Thalia! You're not thinking straight! What is wrong with you?" Vitani asked, firing another spell.

Thalia dodged. "YOU TOOK EVERYTHING AWAY FROM ME! LUKE-"

"-is free to choose for himself!" Vitani retorted, her eyes narrowed. She had been expecting an explosion like this from Thalia, but she didn't think the girl would attack her outright.

Vitani wore a grim expression, seeming regretful as she shot a spell at Thalia's feet, locking her legs together. Thalia fell down with a grunt and her spear fell from her grip.

"You need to cool down." Vitani said before gathering her things. She then walked away as Thalia cursed at her back.

"You come back here! That was a cheap shot! Don't you dare turn your back on me, Vitani! Damn you!"

Thalia cried out in frustration, her bottled emotions finally coming free after so long. Her tears kept running as she sobbed.

She couldn't believe that she had done something so stupid. Vitani, who always had been nice to her and considerate of her feelings when she allowed Luke to spend quality time together with her when she wanted it, and she attacked her!

If Luke had ever found out what she had done today, she didn't think that he'd ever forgive her. He cared about Vitani more than anything or anyone else. If he found out that a friend had attacked her, she knew that he'd be conflicted, but he would ultimately choose Vitani in the end. It was lucky that she didn't manage to land a hit.

Vitani was long gone when the spell wore off.

* * *

Thalia avoided Vitani like a plague after that, Luke was confused as to why, but Vitani had said they had a small disagreement and left it at that. Luke thankfully didn't pry, otherwise his friendship with the daughter of Zeus would have become strained, possibly even broken.

Though Thalia would look at Vitani and Luke with guilty eyes, one look from Vitani had Luke backing off from investigating.

It wasn't long until Vitani received a bouquet of white Lilies with a apology note that Thalia started to hang out with Vitani again.

The months past, and around the middle of December, Chiron had sent Thalia out to help Grover retrieve two demigods. Percy would be going and so would Annabeth.

Luke and Vitani would've went as well, but Chiron insisted that Percy, Thalia, and Annabeth together would be enough.

* * *

"Annabeth is gone?" Luke asked, horrified when Percy told them what had happened when they were retrieving Nico and Bianca Di Angelo.

"Yeah, I wanted to go after her but Artemis' hunters stopped me." Percy said sullenly.

"Artemis' hunters?" Vitani asked. "They're all girls who were adopted by Artemis right? They're given immortality in exchange for giving up love and men, and swearing loyalty to Artemis, correct?"

"That's right. In fact, their leader, Zoe Nightshade, who despises men more than any other hunter, had once recruited Thalia." Luke said.

"Why would she hate Zoe then?" Percy asked.

"Well... I had overheard their conversation when Zoe recruited her. Thalia refused to join the hunters because of me. Joining the hunters meant that she would've had to leave me behind." Luke answered, looking slightly guilty. "They got into a fight after that, with Zoe saying some pretty hurtful things. She said that Thalia was being stupid, that she'd regret her choice, and that I'd let her down some day."

Understanding dawned on the Son of the Sea God.

"In Thalia's and Zoe's perspective, in a way I did let her down." Luke said, Vitani gave a sad smile and wrapped her arms around his waist. In return, he wrapped and arm around her shoulder's, and planted a kiss on her head.

Percy looked confused.

"Percy, Thalia and I, we used to like each other, more than friends I mean. She was 12, and I was 14. We were young, we survived on the streets together, so naturally, we grew crushes on one another. We didn't act on them because of the constant danger we were in, but we were aware of our feelings for one another. But then Thalia was turned into a tree and-"

"You moved on and fell in love with Vitani, and now you're even engaged to her." Percy said, wide eyed.

"Yeah." Luke nodded.

There was a short silence between the three before Percy spoke up again.

"Bianca Di Angelo, she joined the hunters." He said bitterly.

"What's wrong with that?" Luke asked, confused but grateful for the change of subject. The topic of Thalia not joining the hunters because of him always made him uncomfortable.

"She joined as soon as she was invited, just like that! She barely thought about it, not to mention, she's basically leaving her brother, Nico, behind. He can't join the hunters." Percy said, frowning.

Vitani frowned at that, and Luke knew why. Vitani valued family more than anything else, mainly because she didn't have one of her own when she was growing up.

"I just can't help but think she's a bit selfish for doing that." Percy muttered.

"Well, it is her choice, but I do agree with you on that though." Luke nodded.

Since the current conversation was a bit grim, Percy decided to change it.

"Hey, there's going to be a Capture the Flag game tomorrow. Either you or Vitani want to be captains?"

"Capture the Flag? Are we playing with the hunters?" Vitani asked.

"Yeah, Chiron said it's tradition whenever they visit. It'll be us campers, versus the Hunters." Percy said.

"And the Hunters always win." Luke said sadly.

"Huh? Really?" Vitani asked.

"Yeah, currently they're at 55 wins... in a  _row_. If they win tomorrow's game, it'll be the 56th win." Luke sighed.

Vitani hummed, her calculating eyes landed on Artemis' cabin where the Hunters would be staying.

Luke smirked at his fiance's look. "Well, well... It seems like my darling Fiance has a plan."

"Great! You're going to be captain then?" Percy asked.

"Alright." Vitani nodded, giving a mischievous smile that Luke adored.

* * *

The next morning, Percy told Grover, Luke, and Vitani about the dream he had about Annabeth the recent night.

"A cave ceiling collapsed on her?" Vitani asked.

"Yeah. What the heck does it mean?" Percy asked.

"I don't know Percy, but after what Zoe dreamed-" Grover was cut off.

"Whoa. What do you mean? Zoe had a dream like that?" Percy asked.

"I don't know, exactly. About three in the morning she came to the Big House and demanded to talk to Chiron. She looked really panicked." Grover said.

"Wait, how do you know this?" Luke asked, furrowing his brows.

Grover blushed. "I was sort of... camped outside the Artemis cabin."

"What for?" Vitani asked.

"Just to be, you know, near them."

Luke raised an amused brow. "You're a stalker with hooves."

"I am not! Anyway, I followed her to the Big House and hid in a bush and watched the whole thing. She got real upset when Argus wouldn't let her in. It was kind of a dangerous scene."

"What did she say?" Luke asked.

Grover grimaced. "Well, she starts talking really old-fashioned when she gets upset, so it was kind of hard to understand. But it was something about Artemis being in trouble and needing the Hunters. And then she called Argus a boil-brained lout… I think that's a bad thing. And then he called her—"

"Whoa, wait. How could Artemis be in trouble?" Percy asked.

"I… well, finally Chiron came out in his pajamas and his horse tail in curlers and—"

"He wears curlers in his tail? Seriously?" Luke laughed.

Grover glared slightly at both Luke and Percy for interrupting him.

"Sorry," Percy apologized. "Go on."

"Well, Zoe said she needed permission to leave camp immediately. Chiron refused. He reminded Zoe that the Hunters were supposed to stay here until they received orders from Artemis. And she said…" Grover gulped. "She said 'How are we to get orders from Artemis if Artemis is lost?'"

"What do you mean lost? Like she needs directions?" Percy asked.

Vitani facepalmed. "No Percy, she probably meant that Artemis is gone, as in kidnapped!"

" _Kidnapped_?" Percy asked incredulously as he tried to get his mind around that idea. "How would you kidnap an immortal goddess? Is that even possible?"

Vitani and Luke exchanged looks.

 _'A titan, perhaps?'_ She thought.  _'Kronos possibly?'_

"Well, yeah. I mean, it happened to Persephone." Luke said.

"But she was like, the goddess of  _flowers_."

Grover looked offended. "Springtime."

"Whatever. Artemis is a lot more powerful than that. Who could kidnap her? And why?"

"Kronos perhaps?" Vitani said, voicing her earlier thoughts.

"He can't be that powerful already. Can he?"

"It's possible..." Luke admitted reluctantly.

"I don't know about that, Luke." Grover said. "I think somebody would know if Kronos had re-formed. The gods would be more nervous. But still, it's weird, Percy, you having a nightmare the same night as Zoe. It's almost like—"

"They're connected." Percy said. "I've got to talk to Zoe."

"Um, before you do…" Grover took something out of his coat pocket. It was a three-fold display like a travel brochure. "You remember what you said—about how it was weird the Hunters just happened to show up at Westover Hall? I think they might've been scouting us."

"Scouting us? What do you mean?"

He gave Percy the brochure. It was about the Hunters of Artemis. Luke and Vitani curiously read it over his shoulder. The front read, A WISE CHOICE FOR YOUR FUTURE! Inside were pictures of young maidens doing hunter stuff, chasing monsters, shooting bows. There were captions like: HEALTH BENEFITS: IMMORTALITY AND WHAT IT MEANS FOR YOU! and A BOY-FREE TOMORROW!

"I found that in Annabeth's backpack." Grover said.

Percy stared at him. "I don't understand."

"Well, it seems to me… maybe Annabeth was thinking about joining." Luke said.

Percy looked angry at the thought of Annabeth joining the Hunters of Artemis. Luke and Vitani smiled knowingly.

Vitani then looked at the brochure again.

"You're not going to join the Hunters now, are you?" Luke asked warily in a joking manner.

Vitani rolled her eyes. "Don't be ridiculous, Luke. Being a hunter doesn't sound attractive to me at all. I don't want immortality, nor do I want a 'Boy-Free' tomorrow. I want to be able to grow old, have children, and watch my children have children before dying of old age. The thought of me giving all that up for something  _stupid_  as immortality, is insulting. Honestly, the nerve..."

Luke gave a bright smile, giving her a quick kiss on the lips, interrupting her grumbling..

* * *

When the Capture the Flag game came around, Vitani counted the campers she had on her team. All of them knew that she was being the Captain today.

The team consisted of Beckendorf and two Hephaestus sons, a few from the Ares cabin (thought Clarisse wasn't around since she was currently on a quest), the Stoll Brothers and Nico from the Hermes cabin, Thalia, Percy, Luke, and a few kids from the Aphrodite cabin. It was odd that they even wanted to play, they normally sat on the sidelines. They checked their reflections in the river and gossiped, but when they heard that the opposing team were the Hunters, they were raring to go.

"I'll show them 'love is worthless.'" Silena Beauregard grumbled as she strapped on her armour. "I'll pulverize them!"

Vitani agreed with her, because she herself thought that love was one of the greatest powers of all.

"Okay, Vitani, what's the plan?" Thalia asked eagerly.

"Thalia, Percy, you two and I are going to go after the flag." Vitani said. The two demigods nodded and seemed pleased by this.

"What about us, babe?" Luke asked.

"Luke, you will lead the defense here. Everyone is going to defend the flag. So Silena, this is your chance to prove yourself!" Vitani encouraged. "They'll expect us to leave only a few of us here, but like this, we'll catch them off guard and minimize the chance of them getting our flag. We're not going to lose today! We'll break their winning streak! Are you all with me?!"

The campers roared in approval, Silena especially.

"Alright then, Travis, Connor, set some traps." Luke said. "Beckendorf, you and your brothers help them out."

"Gotcha!" The twins grinned. Beckendorf and his two brothers nodded.

"Silena, you and your siblings will stay right over there, behind those rocks. If they get past our traps, you attack, got it?" Luke asked.

"You can count on us!" Silena said, her chest puffing up in pride and confidence along with her brothers and sisters.

"Ares cabin, you back them up. Don't let them get near the flag. Hide in those bushes over there to surprise them."

They grinned and did as told.

"And I'll be right over there." Luke said, pointing to a thick tree nearby.

"Alright, Thalia, Percy, you two will attack the hunters on defense. Percy, manipulate the snow and cover them with it, try to turn it into water. Thalia, you shock them with everything you have, that'll stun them and give us enough time to take the flag back to our territory."

Thalia and Percy nodded. Percy then tried to manipulate the snow, pleased when he could indeed turn it into water.

"Heroes!" he called. "You know the rules! The creek is the boundary line. Blue team—Camp Half-Blood—shall take the west woods. Hunters of Artemis—red team—shall take the east woods. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. No intentional maiming, please! All magic items are allowed. To your positions!"

Vitani's team set their flag at the top of Zeus' Fist. A cluster of boulders in the middle of the west woods that, if you look at it just the right way, looks like a huge fist sticking out of the ground. If you look at it from any other side, it looks like a pile of enormous deer droppings, but Chiron wouldn't let the campers call the place the Poop Pile, especially after it had been named for Zeus, who didn't have much of a sense of humour.

The Horn then sounded, and the game began.

* * *

Vitani, Percy, and Thalia headed for the Hunters' red flag as planned, except under disillusionment charms to keep them from being seen.

When they saw the flag in the distance, Vitani disabled their traps with a wave of her wand.

The hunters were confused as to why their traps were suddenly disabled, but they raised their bows, ready to shoot.

Vitani then noticed that most of the hunters were there, except maybe a couple of them including Zoe Nightshade.

"Percy, now!" Vitani whispered.

Percy nodded and melted the snow around them before soaking the hunters with a large wave of water.

The hunters sputtered as they slipped in the slushy snow, spitting out water.

"Thalia!"

Thalia grinned and sent a strong shock to the water as soon as Percy and Vitani were out of the way.

The hunters then trembled from the shock, falling to the ground, twitching. They were barely conscious.

Vitani then held out her hand, calling the flag to her with her magic. The Flag pulled itself out of the ground and came zooming towards them. Vitani caught the flag with a grin, nodding to both Thalia and Percy before they ran towards their territory, the Red Hunters flag held high.

* * *

Zoe Nightshade knew something was wrong when she spotted nearly all the campers, surrounding and protecting their flag. Not to mention, only a few were missing, the most noticeable ones was Percy Jackson and Thalia Grace.

Realizing what had happened, Zoe zoomed back to the Hunters' territory.

But it was too late. When she arrived at the creek, which was the boundary line, three campers including Thalia and Percy, already crossed it with the red flag.

The horn blew and Chiron appeared. "Camp Half-Blood wins!"

Chiron seemed to be extremely happy by this fact. The campers cheered and lifted Vitani, Thalia, and Percy onto their shoulders.

"We finally broke their winning streak!" Luke said elatedly.

The hunters all glowered and grumbled, not entirely believing that they had lost for the first time in decades.

Vitani stopped smiling however when she saw what was approaching. Everyone turned to see what she was looking at before gasping from shock and fear.

"This is impossible." Chiron said. They'd never heard him sound so nervous before. "It… she has never left the attic. Never."

And yet, the withered mummy that held the Oracle shuffled forward until she stood in the centre of the group. Mist curled around their feet, turning the snow a sickly shade of green.

None of either the campers or hunters dared move. Then her voice hissed inside everyone's head. Several clutched their hands over the ears.

 _I am the spirit of Delphi_ , the voice said.  _Speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python_

The Oracle regarded Percy with its cold, dead eyes. Then she turned unmistakably toward Zoe Nightshade.  _Approach, Seeker, and ask_.

Zoe swallowed. "What must I do to help my goddess?"

The Oracle's mouth opened, and green mist poured out. Everyone saw the vague image of a mountain, and a girl standing at the barren peak. It was Artemis, but she was wrapped in chains, fettered to the rocks. She was kneeling, her hands raised as if to fend off an attacker, and it looked like she was in pain.

The Oracle spoke:

_Seven shall go west to the goddess in chains,_

_One shall be lost in the land without rain,_

_The bane of Olympus shows the trail,_

_Campers and Hunters combined prevail,_

_The Titan's curse must two withstand,_

_And one shall perish by a parent's hand_.

Then, as they were watching, the mist swirled and retreated like a great green serpent into the mummy's mouth. The Oracle sat down on a rock and became as still as she'd been in the attic, as if she might sit by this creek for the next hundred years.


	17. Chapter 17

Since the Oracle wouldn't obviously walk back to the attic herself, Vitani ended up levitating her back. She didn't want to touch her for obvious reasons.

Percy was also mad out how the Oracle had gone out of her way to exclude him, ignoring his question and walked half a mile to talk to Zoe. She said nothing, not even a hint, about Annabeth.

"What will Chiron do?" Percy asked.

"I wish I knew." Grover said, looking wistfully at the rolling hills covered in snow. "I want to be out there."

"Searching for Annabeth?" Percy asked.

Grover looked a bit distracted before he blushed. "Oh, right. That too. Of course."

"What were you thinking about, Grover?" Luke asked.

He clopped his hooves uneasily. "Just something the manticore said, about the Great Stirring. I can't help but wonder … if all those ancient powers are waking up, maybe … maybe not all of them are evil."

"You mean Pan." Vitani said.

Before the conversation could go any further, Thalia walked up to them.

"We have to go to the Big House." Thalia said.

"Why?" Percy asked.

"Dionysus is calling a council of cabin leaders to discuss the prophecy." She said.

"Oh." Percy said.

* * *

Mr. D and Chiron (in wheelchair form) sat at one end of the table. Zoe and Bianca di Angelo (who had kind of become Zoe's personal assistant) took the other end. Thalia and Grover and Percy sat along the right, and the other head councilors-Beckendorf, Silena Beauregard, Vitani, and Luke sat on the left. The Ares kids were supposed to send a representative, too, but all of them had gotten broken limbs (accidentally) from trying to flirt with the Hunters.

"This is pointless." Zoe said, starting off the meeting. "There is no time to talk, our Goddess needs us. The Hunters must leave immediately."

"And go where?" Chiron asked.

"West!" Bianca said. "You heard the prophecy.  _Seven_ _shall go west to the goddess in chains._ We can get Seven hunters and go."

"Yes." Zoe agreed. "Lady Artemis is being held hostage! We must find her and free her."

"You're missing something, as usual." Thalia said, rolling her eyes.  _"Campers and Hunters combined prevail._ We're supposed to do this together."

"No!" Zoe said, shaking her head and scowling. "The Hunters do not need thy help."

" _You."_ Thalia grumbled. "Nobody has said 'thy' in, like, three hundred years, Zoe. Get with the times."

"I fear the prophecy says you do need our help." Chiron admitted. "Campers and Hunters must cooperate."

"Or do they?" Mr. D used, swirling his Diet Coke under his nose like it had a fine bouquet.  _"One shall be lose. One shall perish._ That sounds rather nasty, doesn't it? What if you fail because you try to cooperate?"

"Mr. D," Chiron sighed, "With all due respect, whose side are you on?"

Dionysus raised his eyebrows. "Sorry, my dear centaur. Just trying to be helpful."

"We're supposed to work together." Thalia said stubbornly. "I don't like it either, Zoe, but you know prophecies. You want to fight against one?"

Zoe grimaced, but they could all tell that Thalia had scored a point.

"We must not delay." Chiron warned. "Today is Sunday. This very Friday, December twenty-first, is the winter solstice."

"Oh, joy." Dionysus muttered. "Another dull annual meeting."

"Artemis must be present at the solstice," Zoe said. "She has been one of the most vocal on the council arguing for action against Kronos' minions. If she is absent, the gods will decide nothing. We will lose another year of war preparations."

"I must agree with Zoe." said Chiron. "Artemis' presence at the winter council is critical. We have only a week to find her. And possibly even more important: to locate the monster she was hunting. Now, we must decide who goes on this quest."

"How about 4 hunters and 3 campers? That's fair right? We're supposed to have a group of seven after all." Vitani said, speaking up.

Thalia and Zoe exchanged looks.

"It does make sense." Thalia said.

Zoe grunted. "I would prefer to take all the Hunters. We still need strength of numbers."

"You'll be retracing the goddess' path," Chiron reminded her. "Moving quickly. No doubt Artemis tracked the scent of this rare monster, whatever it is, as she moved west. You will have to do the same. The prophecy was clear:  _The bane of Olympus shows the trail._ What would your mistress say? Too many Hunters spoil the scent'. A small group is best."

"Chiron." Luke said, "You don't have any ideas about the monster?"

Chiron pursed his lips. "I have several ideas, none of them good. And none of them quite make sense. Typhon, for instance, could fit this description. He was truly a bane of Olympus. Or the sea monster Keto. But if either of these were stirring, we would know it. They are ocean monsters the size of skyscrapers. You father, Poseidon, would already have sounded the alarm. I fear this monster may be elusive. Perhaps even more powerful."

" _One shall be lost in the land without rain."_ Beckendorf said. "If I were you, I'd stay out of the desert."

There was a muttering of agreement.

" _And the Titan's curse must two withstand."_ Silena said. "What could that mean?"

Percy, Luke, and Vitani saw Chiron and Zoe exchange a nervous look, but whatever they were thinking, they didn't share it.

" _One shall perish by a parent's hand."_ Grover said in between bites of Cheez Whiz and Ping-Pong balls. "How is that possible? Whose parent would kill them?"

"There will be deaths." Chiron decided. "That much we know."

"Oh, goody!" Dionysus drawled.

"Anyways, Vitani is right." Silena said. "Three campers should go."

"Oh, I see." Zoe said sarcastically. "And I suppose you wish to volunteer?"

Silena blushed. "I'm not going anywhere with the Hunters. Don't look at me!"

"A daughter of Aphrodite does not wish to be looked at." Zoe scoffed. "What would thy mother say?"

"Stop it." Beckendorf said, putting an end to the budding argument. He was a big guy with an even bigger voice. He didn't talk much, but when he did, people tended to listen. "Let's start with the Hunters. Which four of you will go?"

Zoe stood. "I shall go, of course, and I will take Phoebe and Annabelle. They, together, our my best trackers."

"The big girls who likes to hit people on the head?" Travis Stoll asked cautiously.

Zoe nodded.

"And the big girls who tried to shoot me for going near them?" Connor Stoll asked.

"Yes." Zoe snapped. "Why?"

"Oh, nothing." Travis said. "Just that we have T-shirts for them from the camp store." He held up two big silver T-shirts that said ARTEMIS THE MOON GODDESS, FALL HUNTING TOUR 2001, with a huge list of national parks and stuff underneath. "It's a collector's item. They were admiring it. You want to give it to them?"

Percy, Luke, and Vitani knew the Stolls were up to something. They always were. But they guessed that Zoe didn't know them as well as they did. She just sighed and took the T-shirt. "As I was saying, I will take Phoebe and Annabelle. And I wish Bianca to go."

Bianca looked stunned. "Me? But … I'm so new. I wouldn't be any good."

"You will do fine." Zoe insisted. "There is no better way to prove thyself."

"And for campers?" Chiron asked. His eyes met Percy's.

"Me!" Grover stood up so fast he bumped the Ping Pong table. He brushed cracker crumbs and Ping-Pong ball scraps off his lap. "Anything to help Artemis!"

Zoe wrinkled her nose. "I think not, satyr. You are not even a half-blood."

"But he is a camper." Vitani said.

"And he's got a satyr's senses and woodland magic. Can you play a tracker's song yet, Grover?" Thalia asked.

"Absolutely!"

Zoe wavered.

"Very well," Zoe said. "And the second camper?"

"I'll go." Thalia stood and looked around, daring anyone to question her.

"I want to go too." Percy said.

"He cannot." Zoe said, upturning her nose. "He is a boy. I won't have Hunters travelling with a boy. We shall take Vitani Potter instead, her magic will be very useful on this quest."

Luke wanted to protest, but Grover cut him off before he could say anything.

"Oh." Grover said, suddenly aware of the problem. "Whoa, yeah, I forgot! Percy has to go. I didn't mean... I'll stay. Percy should go in my place."

"No boys!" Zoe insisted.

"You travelled here with me." Percy reminded.

"That was a short-term emergency, and it was ordered by the goddess. I will not go across country and fight many dangers in the company of a boy."

Vitani thought Zoe's aversion to men was a bit extreme, and apparently, Percy thought the same.

"What about Grover?" Percy demanded.

Zoe shook her head. "He does not count. He's a satyr. He is not technically a boy."

"Hey!" Grover protested.

"I have to go." Percy said. "I need to be on this quest."

"Why?" Zoe asked. "Because of thy friend Annabeth?"

Everyone looked at the Son of the Sea God when he blushed. "No! I mean, partly. I just feel like I'm supposed to go!"

"And I won't let Vitani go out there without me, either." Luke said, speaking up. He gripped Vitani's hand tightly in his.

"I could give Percy my spot on the team." Vitani offered. "I don't mind not going, really... and you kinda forced me onto this quest anyways..."

Percy looked at the witch gratefully.

"No." Zoe said flatly. "I insist upon this. I will take a satyr if I must, but not a  _male_  hero."

Both Luke and Percy gritted their teeth.

Chiron sighed. "The quest is for Artemis. The Hunters should be allowed to approve their companions."

Percy looked down at his lap, devastated. Luke looked near the same, if it wasn't for the fact that Vitani was comforting him. She rubbed his arm in a soothing manner. He just looked at his fiance in a helpless manner.

* * *

Percy immediately headed over to the Hecate cabin after overhearing Zoe's conversation with Bianca.

He knocked on the door frantically.

Luke opened it, rubbing his eyes sleepily. Ever since Luke had proposed to Vitani, he spent nearly every night in her cabin.

"Percy? What are you doing here at this hour?" The son of Hermes whispered before yawning.

"You still want to go on the quest right?" Percy asked, and Luke nodded. "Well I heard Zoe and Bianca talking, it seems that Annabelle and Phoebe can't go because the Stoll twins sprayed centaur blood on the inside of those Hunter tour shirts. They broke out in bad hives, and Zoe isn't taking any hunters to replace them."

Luke then grinned. "Then we can follow them."

Percy nodded. "Yeah."

"They're leaving at dawn, which means we have to leave now, the sun is about to come up." Luke said.

"We're going to take the Pegasi to follow them. Blackjack offered me a ride, but-"

"I can take Skyshadow, one of Vitani's Thestrals." Luke said.

"Right." Percy nodded.

* * *

"Are thy ready?" Zoe asked, discreetly eyeing Vitani's engagement ring with distaste. It wasn't that the ring wasn't beautiful, it was more of what the ring represented.

"Yeah." Vitani nodded, patting her satchel bag.

"Is that enough?" Thalia asked.

"Yes. It holds more than it looks." Vitani smiled. Thalia looked confused but Zoe nodded in understanding.

The witch then noticed that there were two people missing from their group. "Where is Annabelle and Phoebe?"

"They're... unwell at the moment." Bianca said.

"Unwell?" Vitani asked.

"The twins." Thalia said.

"Oh. Are you not going to take anymore hunters?" Vitani asked.

"No." Zoe said.

"Vitani." Luke called out, walking up to his fiance and giving her a kiss. Thalia looked away uncomfortably while Zoe huffed. "I just wanted to see you off."

Vitani smiled. "Thank you, see you later, Luke."

The girls then got into Argus' van before driving away.

As soon as they were gone, Luke ran for the stables, where Percy was already waiting with Blackjack and Skyshadow.

Luke hurried and put a specialized saddle on Skyshadow before climbing on. The thestral shifted a bit, but otherwise did nothing but pawed at the ground when Luke took the reins.

"Let's go."

* * *

"Zoe, can I ask you a question?" Vitani spoke up.

"Yes?" Zoe asked.

"Uhh, I heard that an occasional hunter would leave the hunt if they fell in love, right?"

"That is correct."

"What happens if one of your hunters falls in love with a girl?" Vitani asked hesitantly but curiously.

Zoe paused and furrowed her brow while Thalia nearly burst out laughing. Bianca and Grover blushed.

"I do not know, I have not encountered such a situation in all my life as a Hunter." Zoe admitted.

"Oh."


	18. Chapter 18

Luke and Percy had to be extremely careful when they were flying in the sky to keep themselves from being seen. Fortunately, the were able to keep their flying steeds in the clouds which were pretty low in the winter.

The two demigods darted around, trying to keep the Camp Half-Blood van in sight. They had lost the van twice, but Percy had the idea that they would go to Manhattan first, so it wasn't too difficult to pick up their trail again.

The two landed on the top of the Chrysler building, watching as the white camp van drove past the bus station and towards the Lincoln tunnel.

The two were about to go after them, but vines—grape vines—had sprouted from the cracks between the stones of the building and around their legs. They couldn't move.

"Going somewhere?" Mr. D asked, appearing.

He was leaning against the building with is feet levitating in the air, his leopard-skin warm-up suit and black hair whipping around in the wind.

Blackjack whinnied, and Luke figured that the black Pegasus must've said something about the wine god as Mr. D sighed in exasperation. "The next person, or horse, who calls me the 'Wine Dude' will end up in a bottle of Merlot!"

Luke bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from smiling in amusement.

"Mr. D." Percy said, trying to keep his voice calm. "What do you want?"

"Oh, what do I want? You thought, perhaps, that the immortal, all-powerful director of camp would not notice you two leaving without permission?'"

"Well... maybe." Percy admitted.

"I should throw you off this building, minus the flying horse, and see how heroic you sound on the way down."

Percy and Luke clenched their fists, trying to keep themselves from talking back.

"Why do you hate me so much? What did I ever do to you?"

Purple flames flickered in Dionysus' eyes. "You're a hero, boy. I need no other reason."

"I have to go on this quest! I've got to help my friends. That's something you wouldn't understand!"

"Percy..." Luke said, trying to get the younger demigod to stop talking.

The grape vines just coiled tighter around them. Below them, the white van was getting further and further away. Soon it would be out of sight.

"Did I ever tell you about Ariadne?" Mr. D asked. "Beautiful young princess of Crete? She liked helping her friends, too. In fact, she helped a young hero named Theseus, also a son of Poseidon. She gave him a ball of magical yarn that let him find his way out of the Labyrinth. And do you know how Theseus rewarded her?"

"They got married." Percy said. "Happily ever after. The end."

Mr. D sneered. "Not quite. Theseus said he would marry her. He took her aboard his ship and sailed for Athens. Halfway back, on a little island called Naxos, he … What's the word you mortals us today? … he dumped her. I found her there, you know. Alone. Heartbroken. Crying her eyes out. She had given up everything, left everything she knew behind, to help a dashing young hero who tossed her away like a broken sandal."

"That's horrible." Luke frowned, feeling disgusted.

"But that was thousands of years ago What's that got to do with us?" Percy asked.

Mr. D regarded them coldly. "I fell in love with Ariadne, boy. I healed her broken heart. And when she died, I made her my immortal wife on Olympus. She waits for me even now. I shall go back to her when I am done with this infernal century of punishment at your ridiculous camp."

Luke and Percy stared at him in disbelief.

"You're … you're married? But I thought you got in trouble for chasing a wood nymph –" Percy was cut off by Dionysus.

"My point is you heroes never change. You accuse us gods of being vain. You should look at yourselves. You take what you want, use whoever you have to, and then you betray everyone around you. So you'll excuse me if I have no love for heroes. They are a selfish, ungrateful lot. Ask Ariadne. Or Medea. For that matter, ask Zoe Nightshade."

"Though some heroes are like you say, Mr. D, I would never do such a thing to Vitani." Luke said, offended. "Not all heroes are the same."

Mr. D just sneered at him.

"What do you mean, ask Zoe?" Percy asked, but Mr. D didn't answer and just waved his hand dismissively.

"Go. Follow your silly friends."

The vines uncurled from their legs.

They blinked in disbelief. "You're... you're letting me go? Just like that?"

"The prophecy says that at least two of you will die." Mr. D said. "Perhaps I'll get lucky and both of you will be them."

Luke gritted his teeth.

"But mark my words, Son of Hermes and especially, Son of Poseidon, live or die, you two will prove no better than the other heroes."

"We'll see." Luke said, glaring at the God.

With that, Dionysus snapped his fingers. His image folded up like a paper display. There was a  _pop_  and he was gone, leaving a faint scent of grapes that was quickly blown away by the wind.

* * *

The group just left the convenience store, picking up some snacks for the road.

"Grover, are you sure?" Thalia asked.

"Well... pretty sure. Ninety-nine percent. Okay, eighty-five percent."

"And you did this with acorns?" Bianca asked skeptically.

Grover looked offended. "It's a time honored tracking spell. I mean, I'm pretty sure I did it right."

"D.C. is about 60 miles from here." Bianca said. "Nico and I... we used to live there. That's strange. I'd forgotten."

"I dislike this." Zoe said. "We should go straight west. The prophecy said west."

"Oh, like your tracking skills are any better?" Thalia growled.

Zoe stepped toward her. "You challenge my skills, you scullion? You know nothing of being a Hunter!"

"Oh, scullion? You're calling me a scullion? What the heck is a scullion?" Thalia demanded, getting right into Zoe's face.

"A scullion is a servant assigned to the most menial kitchen tasks." Vitani said.

Thalia growled.

Vitani sighed and pushed the two apart. "Come on, you two. Stop it. You guys arguing all the time isn't going to help us."

"Anyways, D.C. is our best bet." Bianca said.

Zoe didn't look convinced, but she nodded reluctantly. "Very well. Let us keep moving."

"You're going to get us arrested, driving." Thalia grumbled. "Let Vitani do it, she's over 20 and definitely looks older than 16 years old. Plus, she has a real license. "

Zoe frowned, but allowed Vitani to drive anyways.

* * *

Seeing as Blackjack was getting tired, Percy and Luke decided to land near the Washington Monument.

The two demigods watched as both Blackjack and Skyshadow flew away, heading straight back to camp.

They then saw the white van parking, with everyone getting out. Grover was pointing towards one of the big buildings lining the mall. Thalia and Vitani nodded, and the five of them trudged off into the cold wind.

"Percy, look." Luke said. He pointed to a black sedan which was about a block away. A man with grey hair and a military buzz cut got out of it.

"Didn't we see this car a few times on the highway?" Percy asked.

"Yeah, I think it was following the van." Luke said, frowning.

The guy took out his mobile phone and said something into it. The he looked around, like he was making sure the coast was clear, and started walking down the Mall in the direction of their friends.

Luke quickly pulled the invisibility cloak he had managed to  _borrow_  from Vitani from his backpack and pulled it over himself. Percy had put on Annabeth's invisibility cap.

When the man turned to where Luke and Percy were just visible, Percy gasped.

"What?" Luke asked from the area beside him.

"That's Dr. Thorn, the manticore from Westover Hall!" Percy replied.

"The monster who kidnapped Annabeth?" Luke asked, narrowing his eyes.

The two of them followed Thorn from a distance, the monster kept well back from their friends, careful not to be seen. Though Vitani kept looking around, her instincts had probably told her that someone might've been following them.

Finally, Grover stopped in front of a big building that said NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM. The Smithsonian!

Thalia checked the door, it was opening, but there weren't many people going in. They slipped inside.

When Thorn didn't go following them into the museum, and inside turned and headed across the mall, Luke and Percy made a split-second decision and followed him.

"What's he up too?" Luke muttered as Thor crossed the street and climbed up the steps of the Museum of National History. There was a big sign on the door that had said CLOSED FOR PRIVATE EVENT, it took them a second to decipher it.

They followed Dr. Thorn inside, through a huge chamber of mastodons and dinosaur skeletons. There were voices up ahead, coming from behind a set of closed doors. Two guards stood outside. They opened the doors for Thorn, and the two had to sprint to get inside before the guards closed them again.

The two widened their eyes when they saw the interior of the room. The room was large and round with a balcony ringing on the second level. At least a dozen mortal guards stood on the balcony, plus two monsters—reptilian women with double snake trunks instead of legs. Dragon women.

That wasn't the worst of it however, standing in between the dragon women, was Ethan, their enemy.

Next to him, sitting down so that the shadows covered him, was another man. All they could see of him were his knuckles on the gilded arms of his chair, like a throne.

"Well?" Asked the man in the chair.

"They're here, General."

"I know that, you fool." Boomed the man. "But where?"

"In the rocket museum."

"How many?" Ethan asked, but Thorn pretended not to hear him.

"How many?" The General demanded.

"Five, General." Thorn said. "The Satyr, Grover Underwood, a girl with long dark hair and wears a satchel bag-"

"Vitani Potter." Ethan said.

"And the girl with the spiky black air and the – how do you say – punk clothes and the horrible shield."

"Thalia Grace." Ethan said.

"And two other girls—Hunters. One wears a silver circlet."

"That one I know." The General growled.

Everyone in the room shifted uncomfortably.

"Now, my boy." The General said, turning to Ethan. "The first thing we must do is isolate the half-blood Thalia. The monster we seek will then come to her."

"The Hunters will be difficult to dispose of," Ethan said. "Zoe Nightshade –"

"Do not speak her name!"

Ethan swallowed fearfully. "S-sorry, General. I just –"

The General silenced him with a wave of his hand. "Let me show you, my boy, how we will bring the Hunters down."

He pointed to a guard on the ground level. "Do you have the teeth?"

The guy stumbled forward with a ceramic pot. "Yes, General!"

"Plant them." He said.

In the centre of the room was a big circle of dirt, where a dinosaur exhibit was probably supposed to go. Luke and Percy watched as the guard took sharp white teeth out of the pot and pushed them into the soil.

The Guard stepped back from the dirt and wiped his hands. "Ready, General."

"Excellent! Water them, and we will let them scent their prey."

The guard picked up a little tin watering can with daisy painted on it, but instead of water coming out of the spout, it was a dark red liquid.

The soil erupted. In each spot where a tooth had been planted, a creature was struggling to get out of the dirt.

The first one of them said: "Mew?"

It was a kitten, a little orange tabby with stripes like a tiger. Then another appeared, until there were a dozen kittens rolling around and playing in the dirt.

Everyone, including Luke and Percy, stared at them in disbelief.

"What is this? Cute cuddly kittens? Where did you find the teeth?!" The General roared.

The guard who'd brought the teeth cowered in fear.

"From the exhibit, sir! Just like you said. The Sabre toothed tiger –"

"No, you idiot! I said the tyrannosaurus! Gather up those … those infernal fuzzy little beasts and take them outside. And never let me see your face again."

The terrified guard dropped his watering can. He then gathered up the kittens and scampered out of the room.

"You!" The General pointed to another guard. "Get me the  _right teeth. NOW!"_

The new guard ran off to carry out his orders.

"Imbeciles." Muttered the General.

"This is why I don't use mortals." Ethan said. "They are too unreliable."

"They are weak-minded, easily bought, and violent." The General said. "I love them."

A minute later, the guard hustled into the room with his hands full of large pointy teeth.

"Excellent." The General said. He climbed onto the balcony railing and jumped down, twenty feet.

Where he landed, the marble floor cracked under his leather shoes. "I shall do this myself." He held up one of the teeth and smiled. "Dinosaur teeth-ha! Those foolish mortals don't even know when they have dragon teeth in their possession. And not just any dragon teeth. These come from the ancient Sybaris herself!"

He planted them in the dirt, twelve in all. Then he scooped up the watering can. He sprinkled the soil with red liquid, tossed the can away, and held his arms out wide. "Rise!"

The dirt trembled. A single, skeletal hand shot out of the ground, grasping the air.

The General looked up at the balcony. "Quickly, do you have the scent?"

"Yesssss, lord." One of the snake ladies said. She took out a sash of silvery fabric, like the kind the Hunters wore.

"Excellent." The General said. "Once my warriors catch its scent, they will pursuer its owner relentlessly. Nothing can stop them, no weapons known to half-blood or Hunter. They will tear the Hunters and their allies to shred. Toss it here!"

As he said that, skeletons erupted from the ground. They were nothing like Halloween skeletons, or the kind you might see in cheesy movies.

These were growing flesh as they watched, turning into men, but men with dull gray skin, yellow eyes, and modern clothes – gray muscle shirts, cameo pants, and combat boots. If one didn't look too closely, you could almost believe they were human, but their flesh was transparent and their bones shimmered underneath, like X-ray images.

The snake lady released the scarf and it fluttered down toward the General's hand. As soon as he gave it to the warriors, they would hunt Zoe and the others until they were extinct.

Percy didn't have time to think. He ran and jumped with all his might, ploughing into the group of warriors and snatched the scarf out of the air.

"What's this?" Bellowed the General.

"An intruder." the General growled. "One cloaked in darkness. Seal the doors!"

"It's Percy Jackson!" Ethan yelled. "It has to be."

Luke counted himself lucky that they didn't notice him either. He then sprinted for the exit, following Percy closely (or at least as close as he could get when the other Demigod was invisible as well, he followed the carnage that Percy had left behind), but heard a ripping sound and realized the skeleton warrior had taken a chunk out of Percy's sleeve. When they glanced back, he was holding the fabric up to his nose, sniffing the scent, handing it around to his friends.

The two demigods ran.


	19. Chapter 19

Luke and Percy tore across the Mall, ripping off their methods of invisibility when they were through the admission area.

Percy ended up running into Thalia, literally, while Luke managed to stop. The two demigods of the big three were knocked into an Apollo space capsule.

Grover yelped in surprise but Vitani just tackled her fiance in a hug.

"Luke!" She squealed, hugging the son of Hermes tightly.

Bianca and Zoe had their arrows out, pointed at both Luke and Percy before Zoe realized who they were.

"You two! How dare you show thy face here?"

"Ethan, he's here." Luke said, hugging Vitani tighter and protectively.

"Where?" Thalia asked.

Percy told them all about the Natural History Museum, Dr. Thorn, Ethan, and the General.

"The General is here?" Zoe looked stunned. "That is impossible! You lie."

"Why would they lie?" Vitani asked, defending Percy.

"Look, there's no time. Skeleton warriors-"

"What?" Thalia demanded. "How many?"

"Twelve." Luke answered. "And that's not all. That guy, the General, he said he was sending something, a 'playmate', to distract you over here. A monster."

"We were following Artemis's trail." Grover said. "I was pretty sure it led here. Some powerful monster scent … She must've stopped here looking for the mystery monster. But we haven't found anything yet."

"Zoe," Bianca said nervously, "if it is the General-"

"It cannot be!" Zoe snapped. "Percy must have seen an Iris-message or some other illusion."

"Denying it won't help us Zoe, it's safer to be over prepared than under prepared." Vitani said.

"And illusions don't crack marble floors." Percy added.

Zoe took a deep breath, trying to calm herself.

"If Percy and Luke is telling the truth about the skeleton warriors." Vitani said. "We have no time to argue. We must leave now."

"Good idea." Luke said in agreement.

"I was not including thee, boy," Zoe sneered. "You two are not part of this quest."

"Hey, we're trying to save your lives!" Percy near shouted.

"You shouldn't have come, Percy, Luke." Thalia said grimly. "But you're here now. Come on. Let's get back to the van."

"That is not thy decision!" Zoe snapped.

Thalia scowled at her. "You're not the boss here, Zoe. I don't care how old you are! You're still a conceited little brat!"

"You never had any wisdom when it came to boys." Zoe growled. "You never could leave them behind!"

"Not all men are the same, Zoe!" Vitani defended. "Just because you had a bad experience with one, doesn't mean that they're all like that!"

Before the argument could escalate, everyone froze. A growl as loud as a rocket engine was heard and something enormous bounded up the ramp. It was the size of a pick-up truck with silver claws and golden glittering fur. The worst part was, there were two of them.

"That's a Nemean Lion." Luke said. "Don't move."

"Separate on my mark." Zoe said. "Try to keep it distracted."

"Until when?" Grover asked.

"Until I think of a way to kill it! Go!"

Everyone except Zoe and Bianca scattered. Arrows flew through the air and Grover played a sharp  _tweet-tweet_ tune on his reed pipes. Percy turned to see that Bianca and Zoe climbed on top of the Apollo capsule, still firing arrows that shattered harmlessly against the lion's metallic fur.

"Hey you, ugly, over here!" Luke called. One of the lions turned to him with a snarl and bounded after him when he ran off.

Vitani and Luke got one lion, while the rest of the group would get the other.

"Bombarda!"

The floor right before the lion exploded, making it rear up with a loud roar.

Seeing that the arrows were useless on the lions, Vitani knew that she should have to use a different method to kill it. And she knew that weak point.

"Luke, the mouth!" Vitani cried out. Luke nodded in understanding and backed up from the lion.

When the lion roared again, getting ready to charge at Luke, Vitani shot a curse at it.

"Reducto!"

The tiny ball of light that was the spell flew right into the Lion's mouth, just like she had wanted.

The Lion clamped its mouth shut before it exploded.

**BOOM!**

Luke and Vitani watched as the Nemean Lion disappeared, leaving a fur jacket in it's place. It turned to look like a beige trench coat when Luke picked it up.

"You can take it, Luke. It might be useful." Vitani said generously.

"But you killed it." Luke protested, but Vitani was having none of it. He took the coat with reluctance and put it on. "It's not bad... Oh, I forgot that I may have  _borrowed_ this."

Luke pulled Vitani's invisibility cloak from his backpack and handed it to Vitani, who took it with a raised brow.

"Let's go back to the others." Luke said awkwardly, trying not to look Vitani in the eye.

* * *

As it turned out, Percy had the same idea a Vitani, though he used more unorthodox methods to execute it.

Then the museum guards came, running around in every direction but theirs. Grover had used a confusion song, but it would last long.

"Go." Luke said. "They'll be hunting Percy and I, but I can distract them."

"No." Zoe shook her head. "We go together."

Percy stared at her. "But you said-"

"You two are part of this quest now." Zoe said grudgingly. "I do not like it, but there is no changing fate. You two are the sixth and seventh quest members. And we are not leaving anyone behind."

Vitani smiled at the Hunter, holding Luke's hand tightly.

* * *

The group was crossing the Potomac when they spotted a helicopter. It was a sleek, military model just like the one they'd seen at Westover Hall. And it was coming straight towards them.

"They know the van, we have to ditch it." Percy said, looking out the van window.

Vitani swerved into the fast lane, the helicopter was gaining on them. It was no use however, the helicopter was making much better time than they were through the D.C. traffic.

Thalia closed her eyes and prayed hard. "Hey, Dad. A lightning bolt would be nice about now. Please?"

No thunderbolt came, not even a rumble in the sky.

"There! The Parking lot!" Bianca pointed.

"We'll be trapped." Zoe said.

"Trust me!" Bianca said.

Vitani nodded and shot across two lanes of traffic and into a small parking lot on the south bank of the river. They ditched the van and followed Bianca down the steps with Vitani putting disillusionment charms on all of them for good measure.

The witch then bought tickets for the southbound train.

A few minutes later, they were safely aboard the train, riding away from D.C. As their train came above ground, they could see the helicopter circling the parking lot, but it didn't come after them.

Grover let out a sigh. "Nice job, Bianca, thinking of the subway."

The sound of the helicopter was getting louder again.

"We need to change trains." Luke said. "Next station."

Over the next half hour, all they thought about was getting away safely, having changed trains twice. After a while, they lost the helicopter.

Unfortunately, when they finally got off the train they found ourselves at the end of the line, in an industrial area with nothing but warehouses and railway tracks. And snow. Lots of snow.

A homeless guy was standing at a trash-can fire. The group must've looked pretty pathetic because he gave them a toothless grin and said. "Y'all need to get warmed up? Come on over!"

They all exchanged looks, but shrugged except Zoe, who grimaced and stayed away. Bianca stayed with her.

"You know," The homeless man said, "you're never completely without friends." His face was grimy and his beard tangled, but his expression seemed kindly. "You kids need a train going west?"

"Yes sir." Vitani said. "You know of any?"

He pointed one greasy hand.

Suddenly they noticed a freight train, gleaming and free of snow. It was one of those automobile-carrier trains, with steel mesh curtains and a triple deck of cars inside. The side of the freight train said SUN WEST LINE.

"That's … convenient," Thalia said. "Thanks, uh …"

She turned to the homeless guy, but he was gone.

An hour later they were rumbling west. There was no problem who would drive now, because everyone all got our own luxury car. Zoe and Bianca were crashed out in a Lexus on the top deck. Grover was playing race car driver behind the wheel of a Lamborghini. Vitani and Luke were in the back of a Dodge truck where the witch set out sleeping bags so they could lie down and cuddle with each other. And Thalia had hot-wired the radio in a black Mercedes SLK so she could pick up the alt-rock stations from D.C.

Percy ended up joining Thalia.

"Luke, I want to give you something." Vitani said, sitting up and digging through her satchel bag.

"What is it?" Luke asked, sitting up with her.

"This." Vitani said, pulling out a beautiful turquoise crystal pendent hung on a silver chain.

When Luke took it, he widened his eyes. As soon as he touched the crystal pendant, an odd but pleasurable feeling tingled throughout his body. He couldn't explain it but, when he grasped it, it felt like Vitani was surrounding him. The air around him suddenly smelled like Lilies. It was as if he was holding a part of Vitani in his palm.

"What is it?" Luke asked breathlessly, looking at the turquoise crystal like it was pure gold.

"A magic crystal full of my magic." Vitani said.

"A magic crystal?" Luke asked, putting the necklace on. It felt as if he was given a warm hug by his fiance.

"A magic crystal is a very special crystal. On their own, they're powerful as they naturally collect the magic in the atmosphere around them, but one could fill them with their own magic. It's normally used for big rituals as a conduct or a catalyst, but I decided this would be best. If you're ever in big trouble, my magic will help you." Vitani answered. "I found a cave full of them in Africa while I was on a curse breaking job. Since it was unused and definitely not owned by anyone, I took some."

"Thank you." Luke said, giving Vitani a passionate kiss.

Vitani wrapped her arms around Luke's neck, tugging slightly at his sandy blond hair as she kissed him back just as fervently. She moaned quietly when she felt his tongue slip into her mouth, coaxing her own to play.

The two soon broke their kiss, resting their forehead against one another as they stared into each other's eyes.

"We should get some sleep." Luke said, caressing her cheek gently.

Vitani agreed and they both laid down to get some rest.

* * *

By the morning, they had arrived on the outskirts of a little ski town nestled in the mountains.

The cheery sign said WELCOME TO CLOUDCROFT, NEW MEXICO, and it was only thanks to Vitani's warming charms that they weren't freezing their butts off as the air was cold and thin.

Once they stopped in the middle of the town, they could pretty much see everything. There was a school, a bunch of tourist stores and cafes, some ski cabins, and a grocery store.

"Great." Thalia said, looking around. "No bus station, no taxis, no car rental, and no way out."

"There's a coffee shop!" Grover said.

"Yes, coffee sounds good." Zoe said.

"And pastries," Grover said dreamily. "And wax paper."

"A hot chocolate would be nice." Vitani admitted sheepishly, Luke thought it was cute.

Thalia sighed. "Fine. How about you three go get us some food. Percy, Bianca, Luke, and I will check in the grocery store. Maybe they can give us directions."

They agreed and split up.

Vitani sighed happily she sank into a seat at the cafe. Zoe and Grover looked just as relieved.

After giving their orders, they waited. Once they received their food and coffee, they headed towards Luke, Thalia, Bianca, and Percy, who were standing on the side of the road, talking.

After everyone got their food and their coffees and hot chocolates, Zoe spoke up.

"We should do the tracking spell," Zoe said. "Grover, do you have any acorns left?"

"Umm," Grover mumbled. He was chewing on a bran muffin, wrapper and all. "I think so. I just need to-"

He froze.

A warm breeze rustled past, like a gust of springtime had gotten lost in the middle of winter. Fresh air seasoned with wildflowers and sunshine. And something else-almost like a voice, trying to say something. A warning.

Zoe gasped. "Grover, thy cup."

Grover dropped his coffee cup, which was decorated with pictures of birds. Suddenly the birds peeled off the cup and flew away, a flock of tiny doves.

Grover collapsed next to his coffee, which steamed against the snow. Everyone gathered around him and tried to wake him up. Instead, he groaned, his eyes fluttering.

They made it to the edge of the town before the first two skeleton warriors appeared. The warriors stepped from the trees on either side of the road. Instead of grey camouflage, they were new wearing blue New Mexico State Police uniform, but still had the same transparent grey skin and yellow eyes.

They drew their handguns.

Thalia tapped her bracelet. Aegis spiralled to life on her arm, but the warriors didn't flinch. Their glowing yellow eyes bored right into them.

Percy drew Riptide, though he wasn't sure what good it would do against guns. Luke did the same with Backbiter and Vitani pulled out her wand.

Zoe and Bianca drew their bows, but Bianca was having trouble because Grover kept swooning and leaning against her.

"It's near." Grover moaned.

"It's here." Percy said, thinking Grover was referring to the skeleton warriors.

"No." Grover insisted. "The gift. The gift from the Wild."

They looked worried, but Zoe, Luke, and Vitani instantly knew what he was talking about. Pan. Pan had sent them a gift, but what?

"The Wild!" Grover moaned.

A warm wind blew through the canyon, rustling the trees, but they kept their eyes on the skeletons.

Percy then charged.

The first skeleton fired. Time slowed down and the second one shot at the son of Poseidon. Percy just deflected it off the edge of his blade and kept charging.

The skeleton then drew a baton and Percy sliced off his arms at the elbows. Then he swung Riptide through his waist and cut him in half.

His bones unknit and clattered to the asphalt in a heap. Almost immediately, they began to move, reassembling themselves. The second skeleton clattered his teeth and me and tried to fire, but Luke knocked his gun into the snow.

The two thought that they were doing pretty well, until the other two skeletons shot them in the back.

Luke and Percy fell to the ground and Vitani cried out Luke's name in anguish, rushing over to him. But then they got up, confused before they realized that the Nemean Lions' fur coat was bulletproof. Vitani sighed in relief, resting her hand on her chest.

There was no way to stop the skeletons. Zoe and Bianca fired at their heads point-blank, but the arrows just whistled straight through their empty skulls. One lunged at Bianca, but she whipped out her hunting knife and stabbed the warrior in the chest. The whole skeleton erupted into flames, leaving a little pile of ashes and a police badge.

"How did you do that?" Zoe asked.

"I don't know," Bianca said nervously. "Luck stab?"

"Well, do it again!"

Bianca tried, but the remaining three skeletons were wary of her now. They pressed them back, keeping us at baton's length. Vitani laid Grover on the ground a safe distance away before joining the fight, firing a blasting curse that made one of the Skeletons explode and disintegrate.

"Thy magic is working! Do it again!" Zoe said.

Vitani wasted no time and blasted the two other skeletons into oblivion.

"But how did Bianca do that when none of us other than Vitani could do it?" Thalia asked. Vitani had some suspicions, the one that made the most sense was that Bianca was a child of either Thanatos or Hades.

Nobody answered. The trees before them then shivered. Branches were cracking.

"A gift." Grover muttered.

And then, with a mighty roar, the largest pig anyone had ever seen came crashing into the road. It was a wild boar, thirty feet high with a snotty pink snout and tusks the size of canoes. Its back bristled with brown hair, and its eyes were wild and angry.

"REEEEEEEEEET"" It squealed before the pig turned on them.

Thalia raised her spear, but Grover yelled, "Don't kill it!"

"That's the Erymanthian Boar." Zoe said, trying to stay calm "I don't think we can kill it."

"It's a gift." Grover said. "A blessing from the Wild!"

The boar said "REEEEEEET!" and swung its tusk. Zoe and Bianca dived out of the way. Percy had to push Grover so he wouldn't get launched into the mountain on the Boar Tusk Escape while Luke pushed Vitani to the ground, covering her body with his own.

"Yeah, I feel blessed!" Percy said sarcastically. "Scatter!"

They ran in different directions, and for a moment the boar was confused.

"It wants to kill us!" Thalia said.

"Of course." Grover said. "It's wild!"

"So how is that a blessing" Bianca asked.

It seemed a fair question, but the pig was offended and charged her.

Bianca rolled out of the way of its hooves quickly and came up behind the beast. It lashed out with its tusks and pulverized the WELCOMETO CLOUDCROFT sign.

"Keep moving!" Zoe yelled. She and Bianca ran in opposite directions. Grover danced around the boar, playing his pipes while the boar snorted and tried to gouge him. Luke pulled Vitani away. But Thalia and Percy won the prize for bad luck. When the boar turned on them, Thalia made the mistake of raising Aegis in defense. The sight of the Medusa head made the boar squeal in outrage.

The boar charged them, causing the two to run uphill.

After reuniting with everyone, the rest of the group went after Thalia and Percy.

Grover's voice called, "Helloooooo?"

"Down here!" Percy shouted.

A few minutes later, Zoe, Bianca, Luke, Vitani, and Grover found them in a small ditch. Thalia had pine needles stuck in her hair while Percy was cut and and bleeding. Vitani immediately went over to heal his cuts as the rest of them stood, watching the wild boar struggle in the snow. Luke hovered close to Vitani as she healed Percy, not wanting to take any chances of the boar charging at them again.

"A blessing of the Wild." Grover said, though he now looked agitated.

"I agree." Zoe said. "We must use it."

"Hold up." Thalia said irritably. She still looked like she'd just lost a fight with a Christmas tree. "Explain to me why you're so sure this pig is a blessing."

Grover looked over, distracted. "It's our ride west Do you have any idea how fast this boar can travel?"

"This boar is that fast?" Vitani asked, sceptical as she eyed the large pig. But she didn't protest as Grover walked over to the boar and jumped onto its back. He then took out his pipes and started playing a snappy tune and tossed an apple in front of the boar. The apple floated and spun right above the boar's nose, and the boar went nuts, straining to get it.

"Automatic steering." Luke said, slightly impressed and amused at the sight. "Great."

He trudged over with Vitani and jumped on behind Grover, which still left plenty of room for the rest of them.

Zoe and Bianca walked toward the boar.

"Wait a second." Percy said. "Do you two know what Grover is talking about—this wild blessing?"

"Of course." Zoe said. "Did you not feel it in the wind? It was so strong… I never thought I would sense that presence again."

"What presence?"

She stared at him like was an idiot.

"The Lord of the Wild, of course. Just for a moment, in the arrival of the boar, I felt the presence of Pan."

As Percy digested that, Vitani put cushioning charms on the boar, knowing that it was going to be a long ride.


	20. Chapter 20

The group had rode the boar until the sun went down, right into a desert. It if wasn't for Vitani's cushioning charms, they would've gotten some pretty bad saddle sores.

As night fell, the boar came to a stop at a creek bed and snorted. He started drinking the muddy water, then ripped a saguaro cactus out of the ground and chewed it, needles and all.

"This is as far as he'll go." Grover said. "We need to get off while he's eating."

After they had gotten off, the boar had its third saguaro cactus and another drink of muddy water before galloping back to the east.

"I guess it likes the mountain better." Percy said.

"I can't blame it. Look." Thalia pointed at the area ahead of them.

It was a two-lane road covered in sand. On the other side of the road was a cluster of old buildings too small to be a town. A boarded up house, a taco shop that looked like it hadn't been opened for decades, and a white stucco post office with a sign that said GILA CLAW, ARIZONA hanging crooked above the door.

"Something tells me we're not going to find a car rental here." Luke said before looking over at Grover. "I don't suppose you have another wild boar up your sleeve?"

Grover was sniffing the wind, looking nervous. He fished out his acorns and threw them into the sand, then played his pipes. They rearranged themselves in a pattern that made no sense to anyone else but Grover, who looked concerned.

"That's us." he said. "Those seven nuts right there."

"Which one is me?" Percy asked.

"The little deformed one." Zoe suggested.

Luke, Vitani, and Thalia had to stifle their laughter at the irritated look on Percy's face.

"Oh, shut up, guys!" Percy pouted.

"That cluster right there," Grover continued, pointing to the left. "that's trouble."

"A monster?" Vitani asked, her eyes looked at the cluster of acorns worriedly. She remembered that one of the group was supposed to be  _'lost in a land without rain'_. It was possible that the prophecy meant someone would literally be lost in the desert, but she doubted it.

Grover looked uneasy. "I don't smell anything which doesn't make sense. But the acorns don't lie. Our next challenge…"

He pointed straight toward the junkyard. With the sunlight almost gone now, the hills of metal looked like something on an alien planet.

"Maybe we should try the junk yard tomorrow, it's been a long day." Vitani suggested.

Everyone agreed and set up camp.

Vitani, as Percy suspected, had pulled out a familiar looking tent bag.

"Percy, Grover, you guys camping in our tent too? Thalia? Zoe? Bianca? What about you?" Vitani asked.

"We can't all fit in there." Thalia said, frowning.

Percy shrugged and walked into the tent with Grover and Luke.

"No, thank you." Zoe said. "I prefer to sleep under the stars if I can."

Bianca nodded and stayed with Zoe.

Thalia furrowed her brow being walking into as well. She gaped at the sight inside.

"Amazing huh?" Percy asked, grinning.

"Magic?" Thalia guessed.

Percy nodded. "Well, you can sleep in that room on the right. Grover and I are taking the left."

"What about Vitani and Luke?" Thalia asked.

"The master bedroom." Percy said, pointing to a room on the far left.

"Oh. What else does this magical tent have?"

"A kitchen and a bathroom." Percy said.

"A bathroom with a shower?" Thalia asked hopefully.

"Yeah, you can go take one if you want. Put your clothes in the hamper when you go in, it's charmed to clean and dry your clothes."

"Cool!" Thalia immediately zipped over to the bathroom.

Percy then walked over to the kitchen where Vitani was pulling out some ingredients.

"What are you making?" Luke asked.

"Spinach lasagna with extra cheese. Vegetarian of course." Vitani smiled.

"Thank you, Vitani!" Grover said, knowing that it was vegetarian because of him.

"Can one of you ask if either Bianca or Zoe would like some? I can save a portion for them." Vitani said.

"I can do it." Grover said.

He left before coming back a moment later.

"They said that they'll each take a portion." Grover said.

"Good." Vitani smiled. "Luke, can you work on the side salad?"

"Sure."

* * *

When the food was ready, everyone decided to eat outside under the stars around a campfire. The food, of course, was delicious.

"The stars are out." Zoe said.

As Zoe said, here were millions of them, with no city lights to turn the sky orange.

"Amazing." Bianca said. "I've never actually seen the Milky Way."

"This is nothing." Zoe said, swallowing a bite of lasagna. "In the old days, there were more. Whole constellations have disappeared because of human light pollution."

"At my school, you could see many constellations from the top of the astronomy tower." Vitani said wistfully.

"You talk like you're not human." Percy said, directing his question to Zoe.

Zoe raised an eyebrow. "I am a Hunter. I care what happens to the wild places of the world. Can the same be said for thee?"

Grover sighed. He was still looking up at the stars like he was thinking about the light pollution problem. "If only Pan was here, he would set things right."

Zoe nodded sadly.

"Maybe it was the coffee," Grover said. "I was drinking coffee, and the wind came. Maybe if I drank more coffee…"

Vitani and Luke doubted that it was the coffee, but they didn't say anything.

"He sent us help." Grover insisted. "I don't know how or why. But it was his presence. After this quest is done, I'm going back to New Mexico and drink a lot of coffee. It's the best lead we've gotten in two thousand years. I was so close."

"What I want to know," Thalia said, looking at Bianca, "is how you destroyed one of the zombies. There are a lot more out there somewhere. We need to figure out how to fight them. We can't rely on Vitani forever."

Bianca shook her head. "I don't know. I just stabbed it and it went up in flames."

"Maybe there's something special about your knife." Luke suggested.

"It is the same as mine." Zoe said. "Celestial bronze, yes. But mine did not affect the warriors that way."

"Maybe you hit the skeleton in a certain spot." Percy said.

Bianca looked uncomfortable with everybody paying attention to her.

"Hades... or Thanatos." Vitani said.

"What?" Bianca asked.

"It wasn't only my magic that destroyed the skeletons. It was because of the fact that I am Thanato's champion, not to mention that one of my mother's domains is necromancy. The only reasonable explanation for Bianca being able to destroy the skeleton warriors is because she is either the daughter of Hades or Thanatos along with her brother." Vitani explained.

"That makes... a lot of sense." Luke nodded.

Bianca looked even more uncomfortable than before, so Zoe changed the subject.

"Never mind," Zoe told her. "We will find the answer later. In the meantime, we should plan our next move. When we get through this junkyard, we must continue west. If we can find a road, we can hitch hike to the nearest city. I think that would be Las Vegas."

Percy was about to protest that Grover, Luke, Vitani, and him had had bad experiences in that town but Bianca beat them to it.

"No!" she said. "Not there!"

She looked frightened, like she'd just been dropped off the steep end of a roller coaster.

Zoe frowned. "Why?"

Bianca took a shaky breath. "I … I think we stayed there for a while. Nico and I. When we were traveling. And then, I can't remember …"

Suddenly Percy had a really bad thought. He had remembered that Bianca had told him about Nico and her staying in a hotel for a while. Percy met Luke's, Vitani's, and Grover's eyes, having the feeling they they were thinking the same thing.

"Bianca." Luke said. "That hotel you stayed at. Was it possibly called the Lotus Hotel and Casino?"

Her eyes widened. "How could you know that?"

"Oh, great." Percy sighed.

"Wait." Thalia said. "What is the Lotus Casino?"

"A couple of years ago," Vitani said, "Grover, Annabeth, Luke, Percy, and I got trapped there. It's designed so you never want to leave. We stayed for about an hour. When we came out, five days had passed. Time passes slower inside."

"No," Bianca denied. "No, that's not possible."

"You said somebody came and got you out." Percy said, remembering.

"Yes."

"What did he look like? What did he say?"

"I … I don't remember. Please, I really don't want to talk about this."

"Bianca," Zoe said, "Can you tell me the name of the president of the United States right now?"

"Don't be silly," Bianca said. She told us the correct name of the president.

"And who was the president before that?" Zoe asked.

Bianca thought for a while. "Roosevelt."

Zoe swallowed. "Theodore or Franklin?"

"Franklin," Bianca said. "F.D.R."

"Bianca," Zoe said. "F.D.R. was not the last president. That was about seventy years ago."

"That's impossible." Bianca said, her voice trembling. "I … I'm not that old."

She stared at her hands as if to make sure they weren't wrinkled.

Thalia's eyes turned sad. "It's okay, Bianca. The important thing is you and Nico are safe. You made it out."

Then the headlights of a car appeared out of nowhere. Zoe and Bianca grabbed their sleeping bags and got out of the way as a deathly white limousine slid to a stop in front of them. Vitani sighed and put her tent back into her bag just in case.

The back door of the limo opened right next to Percy. Before he could step away, the point of a sword touched his throat.

The owner of the sword got out of the car, pushing Percy back.

He smiled cruelly. "Not so fast now, are you punk?"

He was a big man with a crew cut a black leather biker's jacket, black jeans, a white muscle shirt, and combat boots. Wraparound shades hid his eyes, but Luke, Percy, and Grover knew that in those sockets, were flames.

"Ares." Percy growled.

The war god glanced at my friends. "At ease, people."

He snapped his fingers, and their weapons fell to the ground. Vitani was still able to fight, being able to use wandless magic, but this was a god they were talking about. Magic probably wouldn't be very effective.

"This is a friendly meeting." He dug the point of his blade a little farther under Percy's chin. "Of course I'd like to take your head for a trophy, but someone wants to see you. And I never behead my enemies in front of a lady."

"What lady?" Thalia asked.

"Oh I don't she wants to meet the rest of you. Particularly not them." He jutted his chin toward Zoe and Bianca. He then turned to Vitani and Luke, he latter had slipped in front of his fiance protectively. "She likes you two though, but says that there isn't enough drama."

Vitani kept her face blank, but inside she was both panicking and starting to get angry. She knew who that goddess was, and she definitely didn't want her ruining her relationship with Luke for her own amusement. Vitani had lost all respect for the goddess after what had happened to the bear twin's mother.

"Get inside, punk." he said. "And mind your manners. She's not as forgiving of rudeness as I am."

* * *

It wasn't long before Ares pulled Percy out of the limo.

"You're lucky, punk." Ares said, pushing Percy away. "Be grateful."

"For what?"

"That we're being so nice. If it was up to me-"

"So why haven't you killed me?" Percy shot back.

Vitani grimaced slightly, but remembered when she used to be just like Percy. Rash, reckless, and impulsive with a knack for attracting trouble.

"I'd love to kill you, seriously." he said. "But see, I got a situation. Word on Olympus is that you might start the biggest war in history. I can't risk messing that up. Besides, Aphrodite thinks you're some kinda soap-opera star or something. I kill you, that makes me look bad with her."

"Why wait? I beat you once. How's that ankle healing up."

Instead of getting angry like everyone thought he would, Ares just grinned.

"Not bad, punk. But you got nothing on the master of taunts. I'll start the fight when I'm good and ready. Until then … Get lost."

Before anyone knew it, everyone was standing in the middle of a junkyard, mountains of scrap metal stretched out in every direction.

"What did she want with you?" Bianca asked once Percy had told them about Aphrodite, confirming Vitani's suspicions.

"Oh, uh, not sure." Percy said, but Luke and Vitani had the suspicion that he was lying. "She said to be careful in her husband's junkyard. She said not to pick anything up."

Zoe narrowed her eyes. "The goddess of love would not make a special trip to tell thee that. Be careful, Percy. Aphrodite has led many heroes astray."

"For once I agree with Zoe." Thalia said. "You can't trust Aphrodite."

Luke scowled at the thought of the love goddess, clearly he too remembered the bear twin's story.

"How do we get out of here?" Percy asked.

"That way." Zoe said. "That is west."

"How can you tell?" Luke asked.

"Ursa Major is in the north, so that way is obviously west. One of the few things I learned in astronomy class." Vitani answered, earning an approving nod from Zoe.

"Guys! Look!" Grover said, interrupting the conversation.

They had reached the crest of a junk mountain. Piles of metal objects glinted in the moonlight: broken heads of bronze horses, metal legs from human statues, smashed chariots, tons of shields and swords and other weapons, along with more modern stuff, like cars that gleamed gold and silver, refrigerators, washing machines, and computer monitors.

"Whoa." Bianca said. "That stuff... some of it looks like real gold."

"It is. But like Percy said, don't  _touch_  anything. This is the junkyard of the gods." Luke said, gripping Vitani's hand tightly.

"Look!" Bianca said. She raced down the hill, tripping over bronze coils and golden plates. She picked up a bow that glowed silver in moonlight. "A Hunter's bow!" She yelped in surprise as the bow began to shrink, and became a hair clip shaped like a crescent moon. "It's just like Percy's sword!"

"Leave it, Bianca." Vitani said.

"But-"

"It's here for a reason. Anything thrown away in this junkyard must stay in this yard. It's defective, or cursed." Vitani said. "And it definitely looks cursed. I should know, I'm a curse breaker, I work with and see cursed objects all the time. It may looked pretty and harmless right now, but those are the ones usually with the worst effects."

Bianca reluctantly set the hair clip down.

"I don't like this place." Thalia said. She gripped the shaft of her spear.

"You think we're going to get attacked by killer refrigerators?" Percy asked.

Thalia rolled her eyes. "Vitani is right, Percy. Things get thrown away here for a reason. Now come on, let's get across the yard."

They made their way through the hills and valleys of junk, which seemed to go on forever. If it wasn't for Ursa Major, they might've gotten lost. All the junk hills looked pretty much the same.

Soon they saw the edge of the junkyard about a half a mile ahead of them. Before them were the lights of a highway stretched through the desert.

"What is that?" Bianca gasped.

Ahead of them was a hill much bigger and longer than the others. It was like a metal mesa, the length of a football field and as tall as goalposts. At one end of the mesa was a row of ten thick metal columns, wedged tightly together.

Bianca frowned. "They look like-"

"Toes." Grover said.

Bianca nodded. "Really, really large toes."

"I have a really bad feeling about this." Vitani winced, gripping Luke's hand more tightly. He gave a reassuring squeeze back.

"Let's go around, far around." Luke said.

"But the road is right over there." Percy protested. "Quicker to climb over."

"Percy, let's just go around." Vitani said nervously, eyeing the large toes as if they were about to jump out and attack her.

Percy didn't argue, the toes were starting to freak him out too.

After several minutes of walking, they finally stepped onto the highway, an abandoned but well-lit stretch of black asphalt.

"We made it out." Zoe said. "Thank the gods."

It was then they all heard a sound like a thousand trash compactors crushing metal. They all whirled around, only to see the scrap mountain was boiling, rising up. A bronze giant in full Greek battle armour emerged. He was impossibly tall with skyscraper legs and arms.

He looked down at them, and his face was deformed. The left side was partially melted off. His joints creaked with rust, and across his armoured chest, written in thick dust by some giant finger, were the words WASH ME.

"Talos!" Zoe gasped.

"Someone took something." Luke said. "Who took something?"

Thalia stared accusingly at Percy, but he shook his head.

"I'm a lot of things, but I'm not a thief."

Vitani eyed Bianca, who she swore looked guilty, but she didn't have much time to think about it because the giant defective Talos took one step towards them.

"Get away!" Vitani shouted to everyone else, but took out two Clow cards and her star wand. "Big! Power! Sword! Lend me your aid!"

Vitani grew to the same size as the giant and her star wand turned into a rapier like sword.

The giant obviously saw her as the bigger threat and attacked her, their swords met with a loud  _clang,_ and Vitani's sword was slowly cutting into the Giant's sword.

The giant backed off and swung at her again, to which Vitani parried and cut one of his arms off.

"Yeah! Go, Vitani!" Grover cheered.

"How did she-" Zoe asked in awe, Thalia and Bianca looked amazed as well.

"Special magic cards." Percy answered. Luke gripped Backbiter in worry as Vitani continued to fight.

"But... who took something?" Thalia asked.

Luke looked towards Bianca, who winced and took something from her pocket.

"No, Bianca, you-!" Zoe gasped.

"A statue?" Thalia asked.

Bianca flushed in shame. "It was the only figurine that Nico didn't have. Hades."

The figurine did indeed look like Hades, but he was also holding a black marble in his hand.

Before anyone could say anything else, they head a loud crash and turned to Vitani, who had managed to lop Talos' head off and was now proceeding to slice him into bits.

"YOU. STAY. DOWN. YOU. STUPID. METAL. GIANT!" Vitani shouted with each swing of her sword.

She panted for breath when the Giant indeed stayed down, she waited for a moment to see if Talos would put himself back together and get back up, but he didn't. Vitani sighed in relief and turned back to her normal size, her star wand became a key again and three cards appeared in her hand.

The group ran over to her as she put the cards away.

"You are a great warrior, it is a shame you are to be wedded, you would have been an excellent hunter." Zoe said, throwing a distasteful look at Luke.

"Sorry, Zoe. I don't want immortality. I had a bad experience with it." Vitani said apologetically. "And not to mention, I don't want to live forever."

"Indeed." Zoe sighed. "Still, a shame."

Vitani then turned to Bianca and widened her eyes, feeling a horrible magic coming from the figurine she was holding.

"Bianca! Drop that figurine!" Vitani shouted and Bianca dropped the figurine in shock.

Vitani urgently grabbed her arm and pulled up Bianca's sleeve.

Everyone gasped when they saw black tendrils crawling up Bianca's arms, heading straight for her heart.

"W-What? What is happening to me?" Bianca asked, extremely frightened.

"No!" Vitani said, panicked.

"What is happening to Bianca?" Thalia asked, horrified.

"The figurine, it was cursed. A very dark curse, probably meant to assassinate someone." Vitani said. "Ugh! This is why I told you not to pick anything up!"

"Help!" Bianca cried.

"Can't you do anything? You're a curse breaker aren't you?!" Percy asked desperately.

"I-I can't! It's spreading too quickly! This is a god's work, not something that I can break so easily." Vitani said grimly. "Bianca only has only maybe another minute or two at most."

"Then what?" Zoe asked fearfully.

"She dies." Vitani said, closing her eyes.

Everyone took horrified breaths at that.

"What do we do with the statue?" Luke asked, eyeing the Hades figurine warily.

Vitani fished a silk handkerchief from her satchel bag. "Pick it up with this, careful not to touch the figurine."

Luke nodded and very carefully picked up the figurine with the silk cloth.

"If my dad really is Hades or Thanatos, do you think I'll be okay in the Underworld?" Bianca asked, resigned to her fate.

"I'm sure thy will be fine." Zoe said, her eyes glistening with tears.

Everyone watched, helpless, as Bianca closed her eyes, taking a few more staggering breaths before she stilled completely, her head lolling to the side.

Zoe sat down and wept. Thalia yelled out in rage and stabbed the ground.

"It happened just as it was supposed to." Grover said miserably.

"What do you mean?" Percy demanded.

"Perce, the prophecy." Luke said with watery eyes. " _One shall be lost in the land without rain._ "

"I hate prophecies!" Vitani cried, burying her face into Luke's chest.

Vitani soon wiped her eyes and carefully took the wrapped figurine in Luke's hand.

"The curse is gone, it was a one time use." Vitani murmured, eyeing the figurine, especially the black marble that was fading from black to stone grey. She waved her wand over it, muttering something under her breath, but sighed. "Yeah, the marble in Hades' hand contained the curse."

"Nico..." Percy said, anguished. What was he going to tell him? He had promised to keep Bianca safe, but she died.

Vitani looked at the figurine and vanished the marble in the figurine's hand. She then picked up a rock from the ground and transfigured it into a replica of the figurine's Darkness Helm. She put the tiny helm and melded it to the figurine's hands, making it look like it was holding the helm.

"Here, Percy. Give this to Nico." Vitani sand, handing the figurine to Percy, who scowled at it.

"It killed Bianca." Percy said.

"But Bianca still brought it with her, to make Nico happy." Vitani said. "Just tell him that she took something else that was cursed."

Percy looked at Vitani for a moment before reluctantly agreeing.

"What are we going to do with Bianca's body?" Thalia asked sullenly.

"Bury her, it's the least we can do." Luke said.

Vitani had asked everyone to gather as many rocks and wood debris as they could from the edge of the dump where regular mortals had dumped their trash while Vitani made a deep hole with her magic.

They piled the rocks and wood scraps separately.

"What did you need these for?" Thalia asked.

Vitani said nothing, but with a wave of her wand, the pile of wood transfigured into a beautifully carved coffin. On the sides of the coffin where huntresses shooting arrows at large boars and wild cats. On the top of the coffin was Artemis' symbol.

Zoe sniffled. "A coffin worthy of a hunter."

Vitani levitated Bianca's body into the coffin and sealed it shut before putting the coffin into the hole, burying it 6 feet under right after.

Vitani then transfigured the rocks into a marble grave stone, carving Bianca's name in bold letters and the epitaph right underneath in both English and Ancient Greek.

**BIANCA DI ANGELO**

A brave Hunter and a wonderful sister


	21. Chapter 21

The group managed to salvage an old truck from the edge of the dump, and luckily, it had a tank full of gas.

Vitani drove again, and the mood was grim from Bianca's death.

The truck ran out of gas they reached the edge of a river canyon, it was just as well though, because the road was a dead end.

"Great, what now?" Thalia asked, slamming the truck door so hard that one of the tires blew.

The Desert was in all directions, occasional clumps of barren mountains plopped here and there. The canyon was the only thing interesting. The river itself wasn't very big, maybe fifty yards across, green water with a few rapids, but it carved a huge scar out of the desert. The rock cliffs dropped away below them.

"There's a path." Grover said. "We could get to the river."

Percy looked down at the path Grover was looking at. "That's a goat path."

"So?"

"The rest of us aren't goats." Luke said, sighing.

"We can make it... I think." Grover said, starting to sound unsure.

"Maia!" Luke said suddenly, and his shoes grew wings. "I can take someone down with me. So can Vitani if she has her broom."

Vitani nodded and pulled her firebolt broom out of her bag.

"We can each take a passenger." Vitani said.

Since Zoe would definitely refuse to go with Luke, Vitani offered to take her first, to which she looked gratefully at the witch.

Zoe got on the broom behind Vitani and wrapped her arms firmly around her waist. Vitani then slowly descended down to the river, where Zoe jumped off the broom as soon as they neared the ground.

"Thank you." Zoe said before looking at Luke, who was carrying Thalia down bridal style. Her eyes were clamped shut as she clung to the Son of Hermes for dear life.

Vitani felt a small pang of jealousy, but ignored it. She knew that Luke wouldn't cheat on her, he wasn't like that at all.

So the witch flew back up and took Grover down next, leaving Luke to get Percy.

Once everyone was beside the river, Vitani put away her broom and Luke's shoe wings disappeared.

The group walked for about half a mile before they cam across a canoe rental operation that was closed for the season. Vitani left a wad of cash on the counter and wrote a note saying  _IOU two canoes._

"We need to go upstream." Zoe said. "But the rapids are too swift."

"Leave that to me." Percy said, smiling. Water was his element.

Percy, Zoe, and Grover took one canoe while Vitani, Thalia, and Luke took the other.

As it turned out, Percy didn't need to control the currents. As soon as they got into the river, a couple of naiads stared at Percy. Before Percy could even finish asking them for help, each naiad picked a canoe and pushed it up the river.

The naiad that was pushing Vitani's boat giggled and winked at Luke, who smiled wryly back.

"I hate naiads." Zoe grumbled.

She shouldn't have said that. A stream of water squirted up from the back of the boat and hit Zoe in the face.

"She-devils!" Zoe said, going for her bow.

Percy stopped her however. "Whoa! They're just playing."

"Cursed water spirits. They've never forgiven me."

"Forgiven you for what?"

Zoe slung her bow back over her shoulder. "It was a long time ago. Never mind."

"What happened to Bianca wasn't your fault." Percy told her. "It was the curse's fault."

Zoe's shoulders slumped. "No, Percy. I pushed her into going on the quest. I was too anxious. She was a powerful half-blood. She had a kind heart, as well. I … I thought she would be the next lieutenant."

Percy frowned. "But you're the lieutenant."

Zoe gripped the strap of her quiver in response, suddenly looking tired. "Nothing can last forever, Percy. Over two thousand years I have led the Hunt, and my wisdom has not improved. Now Artemis herself is in danger."

"Look, you can't blame yourself for that." Percy said.

"If I had insisted on going with her-"

"You think you could've fought something powerful enough to kidnap Artemis? There's nothing you could have done."

Zoe didn't answer after that. Percy then took Riptide out of his pocket. Zoe gave a pained expression when she looked at the pen.

"You made this." Percy said.

"Who told thee?"

"I had a dream about it."

Zoe sighed. "It was a gift, and a mistake."

"Who was the hero?"

Zoe shook her head. "Do not make me say his name. I swore never to speak it again."

"You act like I should know him."

"I am sure you do, hero. Don't all you boys want to be just like him?"

Percy looked at Riptide and decided to change the subject. In the meanwhile, everyone else was listening quietly.

"Your mother was a water goddess?" Percy asked.

"Yes. Pleione. She had five daughters. My sisters and I. The Hesperides."

"Those were the girls who lived in a garden at the edge of the West. With the golden apple tree and a dragon guarding it."

"Yes." Zoe said wistfully. "Ladon."

"But weren't there only four sisters?"

"There are now. I was exiled. Forgotten. Blotted out as if I never existed."

"Why?"

Zoe pointed to my pen. "Because I betrayed my family and helped a hero. You won't find that in the legend either. He never spoke of me. After his direct assault on Ladon failed, I gave him the idea of how to steal the apples, how to trick my father, but he took all the credit."

Vitani scowled, and so did Thalia and Luke.

All three of them figured out which hero it was, Hercules, and lets say that they no longer admired him, at all.

Before Percy could say anything else, one of the Naiads interrupted him.

They saw why. The river was blocked, they couldn't go any further. A dam the size of a football stadium stood in their path.

"Hoover Dam." Thalia said. "It's huge."

The naiads had left with a lot of grumbling-not in words that only Percy could understand, but it was obvious they hated this dam blocking their nice river. Their canoes floated back downstream, swirling in the wake of the dam's discharge vents.

"Seven hundred feet tall." Percy said. "Built in the 1930s."

"Five million cubic acres of water." Thalia said.

"Is larger than the Great Pyramid of Cheops." Luke said, rolling his eyes.

"Filled with 3.25 million cubic yards of concrete, enough to pave a strip 16 feet wide and 8 inches thick from San Francisco to New York City." Vitani added.

Grover sighed. "Largest construction project in the United States."

Zoe stared at them. "How do you know all that?"

"Annabeth." Percy said. "She liked architecture."

"She was nuts about monuments." Thalia said.

"Sprouted facts all the time." Grover sniffled. "So annoying."

"Hoover Dam is one of her favourites." Luke said.

"I wish she were here." Vitani said, slumping slightly. Luke rubbed her back comfortingly.

The others nodded together and Zoe looked at them strangely.

"You are mad." Zoe decided. "But that's where the road is." She pointed to a huge parking garage next to the top of the dam. "And so, sightseeing it is."

They had to walk for almost an hour before they found a path that led up to the road.

Thalia walked in the middle of the road, far away from the edges. Grover kept sniffing the wind and looking nervous. He didn't say anything, but they knew he smelled monsters.

"How close are they?" Luke asked him.

He shook his head. "Maybe not close. The wind on the dam, the desert all around us … the scent can probably carry for miles. But it's coming from several directions. I don't like that."

Percy bit his lip, they only had two more days til the winter Solstice, they didn't need anymore monsters slowing them down.

"There's a snack bar in the visitor centre." Thalia said.

"You've been there before?" Percy asked.

"Once. To see the guardians." She pointed to the far end of the dam. Carved into the side of the cliff was a little plaza with two big bronze statues. They looked a bit like Oscar statues with wings.

"They were dedicated to Zeus when the dam was built." Thalia said. "A gift from Athena."

Tourists were clustered all around them. They seemed to be looking at the statues' feet.

"What are they doing?" Vitani asked.

"Rubbing the toes." Thalia said. "They think it's good luck."

"Why?" Percy asked.

She shook her head. "Mortals get crazy ideas. They don't know the statues are sacred to Zeus, but they know there's something special about them."

"Let us find the dam snack bar." Zoe said. "We should eat while we can."

Grover cracked a smile. "The dam snack bar?"

Luke and Vitani snorted with laughter.

Zoe blinked. "Yes. What is funny?"

"Nothing." Grover said, trying to keep a straight face. "I could use some dam French fries."

"And I need to use the dam restroom." Luke said, trying to contain his laughter but was failing.

Percy then looked confused, but shared a look with Grover who stopped laughing as well.

"Did I just hear a cow?" Grover asked, looking around.

"A dam cow?" Thalia laughed.

"No." Grover said. "I'm serious."

Vitani felt saddened, her godfather Sirius used to crack 'I'm serious' jokes.

"I hear nothing." Zoe said.

Thalia looked at Percy. "Percy, are you okay?"

"Yeah." Percy nodded. "You guys go ahead. I'll be right in."

"What's wrong?" Grover asked.

"Nothing, I just need a minute to think." Percy said.

"You sure, Perce?" Luke asked worriedly.

"Yeah, go on without me. I'll meet you in a minute." Percy insisted.

They hesitated, but Percy looked upset so they left.

* * *

"What are you going to order?" Vitani asked.

"Burritos." Thalia answered. "You?"

"I don't like Mexican food that much. I'll just go with cheese nachos. It's about the only thing on that menu I'll be able to eat." Vitani grimaced.

"Why? What's wrong with Mexican food?" Grover asked.

Vitani winced. "Food poisoning from Tacos. Not to mention, I don't like guacamole."

"Oh, sorry, Vitani." Luke grimaced and patted Vitani's back. "You know what? I think I'll share with you."

"No, you can order what you want." Vitani said, shaking her head.

"It's fine." Luke insisted and Vitani relented.

Since plain cheese nachos were easy to make, Vitani and Luke got their food first while the rest of the group waited.

The two sat down at a large table, eating the nachos. They kept looking around, waiting for something to attack.

By the time they were nearly done their food, the others came with their burritos.

Just as they were sitting down, Percy appeared and ran over to them, looking frantic. Luke's hand immediately shot to his sword handle while Vitani looked ready to flip out her wand.

"We need to leave. NOW!" Percy gasped.

"But we just got our burritos!" Thalia protested.

Zoe stood up however, cursing as pointed out the window. "He's right, look!"

The cafe windows wrapped all the way around the observation floor, which gave us a beautiful bird's-eye view of the skeletal army that had come to kill them.

Seeing as most of their exits were blocked, Grover suggested the elevator.

But more warriors came out until they were completely surrounded.

It was then that Grover had a brilliant, totally Grover-like idea.

"Burrito fight!" He yelled before flinging his Guacamole Grande burrito at the nearest skeleton.

Grover's lunch hit the skeleton and knocked his skull clean off his shoulders. No one was sure what the other kids in the cafe saw, but they went crazy and started throwing their burritos and baskets of chips and sodas at each other, shrieking and screaming.

The skeletons tried to aim their gun, but it was hopeless. Bodies and food and drinks were flying everywhere.

In the chaos, Thalia and Percy tackled the other two skeletons on the stairs and sent them flying into the condiment table. Then they all raced downstairs, Guacamole Grandes whizzing past their heads.

"What now?" Grover asked as they burst outside.

The warriors on the road were closing in from either direction. They ran across the street to the pavilion with the winged bronze statues, but that just put their backs to the mountain.

The skeletons moved forward, forming a crescent around them. Their brethren from the cafe were running up to join them. One was still putting its skull back on its shoulders. Another was covered in ketchup and mustard. Two more had burritos lodged in their rib cages.

They didn't look happy about it. They drew batons and advanced.

Vitani immediately shot out spells, attacking the skeletons and shooting curses at every one she saw.

"We have to get away! There are too many civilians around here. I can't risk hurting them!" Vitani said frantically.

Luke then had a crazy idea.

"Thalia, pray to your father!"

Thalia glared at him. "He never answers."

"Just this once, ask for help. I think the statues can give us some luck." Luke said as Vitani continued to fight the skeletons that got close.

Thalia scowled but tried it anyways.

Nothing had happened at first, but a shadow came over them. The bronze angels stepped in front of them.

"Man, it feels good to stand up!" The first angel said.

"Will ya look at my toes?" The other said. "Holy Zeus, what were those tourists thinking?"

But Vitani became distracted by the bronze angels and was shot in the right shoulder. She fell to the ground with a cry of pain, dropping her wand.

"Vitani!" Luke cried out, he ran over to his fiance and pulled her into his arms. Blood was staining her clothes quickly. He picked up her wand as well and stuffed it into his pocket. He ripped a part of his shirt and hastily pressed it to her wound, trying her ignore Vitani's moan of pain.

"Get us out of here!" Thalia said.

Both angels looked down at her. "Zeus's kid?"

"Yes!"

"Could I get a please, Miss Zeus's Kid?" One of the angels asked.

"Please!"

The angels looked at each other and shrugged.

"Could use a stretch." one decided.

And the next thing they knew, one of them grabbed Thalia and Percy, the other grabbed Zoe and Grover, and they flew straight up, over the dam and the river, the skeleton warriors shrinking to tiny specks below them and the sound of gunfire echoing off the sides of the mountains.

Luke followed them with his flying shoes and hurriedly pulled the firebolt broom out of Vitani's satchel bag. The broom could fly much faster than his shoes as he was falling behind the two bronze angels.

He got on the broom and the wings on his shoes disappeared. He cradled Vitani in one arm while steering the broom with the other.

"Hold on, Vitani, we'll land soon and we'll be able to help." Luke said, looking down at his fiance in anguish. Her face was pale and her bangs were matted with sweat.

"'kay." She said quietly. Her vision was become blurry as she continued to lose blood.

The wound continued to bleed, now staining Luke's fur jacket.

* * *

Thankfully, they made it to San Francisco in record time, landing by the Embarcadero Building near a ferry dock, where they had scared off a homeless man. The man ran off yelling something about metal angels from Mars.

Luke immediately ran into a nearby alleyway and behind a dumpster. After saying good bye to the angels, the rest of them followed.

By now, Vitani was deathly pale and her breathing was heavily laboured. Luke had shrugged off his fur jacket and laid it on the ground so Vitani could lie on it.

"What can we do?" Thalia asked, desperate as she looked at the witch.

Luke said nothing and searched through Vitani's satchel bag and pulled out her deluxe first kit. When he opened the kit, it fell out in several labelled compartments.

"Zoe, can you cut open her shirt so we can see the wound?" Luke asked.

Zoe would normally ignore a order from a man, but since it was an urgent matter, she obeyed. She took out a hunting knife and cut open Vitani's blood stained shirt. Percy and Grover looked away out of respect, instead they kept a look out for anyone passing by.

Zoe grimaced when she saw the wound. "It is not infected, but it will be if we don't hurry."

Luke handed her a bottle and a sterilized cloth. "This is a wound cleaning potion, clean out her wound."

Zoe nodded and poured some of the amber liquid onto the cloth and started to clean the wound. Thalia helped by taking another cloth and cleaning the blood from around the wounded area.

Vitani groaned when she felt the sting of the wound cleaning potion.

"It's okay, Vitani, please just hang on a little longer." Luke said soothingly despite the panic that was etched onto his handsome face.

"Done, what next?" Thalia asked as Zoe finished cleaning the would. Now that all the blood was gone, it didn't look as bad.

"This." Luke sighed, pulling a pair of tweezers from the kit. He eyed them regretfully but they had to get the bullet out. "Hold her down, we can't let her move."

Zoe and Thalia nodded and held Vitani down.

Luke carefully lowered the tweezers down, trying to keep his hand from trembling. He winced when the tweezers entered the wound, making Vitani jerk slightly. He kept digging throug, not looking at Vitani's pained face.

He sighed in relief when he felt the bullet. Very carefully, he pulled it out.

"There." Luke said, holding up the bloody bullet. "Now we need to use this. It's supposed to be for emergencies but..."

Luke put the dirty tweezers on one of the dirty cloths along with the bullet. He then took out a vial of Phoenix tears.

"What is that?" Thalia asked.

"Phoenix tears. Very rare." Luke said. He pulled out a dropper and dipped it into the vial. After gently sucking up some of the tears, he dropped them onto the wound.

The three of them watched as the wound healed and sealed, leaving not even a scar behind.

"But she still lost a lot of blood." Thalia said, looking at Vitani's still pale face.

She had regained some colour, but not much.

"We can use this." Luke said, holding up a potion vial full of red liquid. "Blood replenishing potion. We'll her one of them."

"How are you going to get that potion into her? She's practically unconscious." Thalia said.

"Like this." Luke said before taking the potion into his mouth.

He gently sat up his fiance, pulled open her mouth slightly, and kissed her.

Thalia went red and looked away while Zoe scowled.

After transferring all of the potion from his mouth, he broke the kiss and gently massaged her throat. Thankfully, Vitani swallowed and didn't choke.

Luke wiped the bit of potion that fell from her lips gently.

"She should be fine now." Luke said, hugging Vitani close to him. "You guys go and figure out what monster Artemis was hunter, I'll stay here with Vitani until she wakes up."

"Are thy sure?" Zoe asked.

"Yeah, go on. I'll be here." Luke said.

 


	22. Chapter 22

Vitani didn't take long to wake up.

"Luke?" Vitani said groggily as she blinked her eyes open.

"Vitani! Thank the gods you're okay." Luke said, sighing in relief.

"What happened?" She asked. "I remember being shot in the shoulder, but everything was a blur after we started to fly."

Luke explained that they were now in San Francisco, and how he, Zoe, and Thalia worked together to save her life.

"Thank you, you did good." Vitani smiled. The two shared a kiss before Luke helped Vitani stand up.

"Here, lean against me."

"I'm fine, Luke. I just need another blood replenishing potion and a Vitamix potion." Vitani said.

Luke pulled out the potions she wanted before putting everything back into the first aid kit and back into her satchel.

Vitani drank the two potions and looked much healthier. She put the empty vials back into her bag. She then cleaned their clothes of blood.

"Let's go fine the others." Vitani said.

"My I escort you, my Lady?" Luke asked playfully, holding out his arm.

Vitani giggled and linked her arms with his.

The couple arrived just in time to see a man turn into a goldfish and back flip into the sea.

"You tricked me!" Percy yelled.

"Wait, what is that?" Thalia's eyes widened when she potted something in the water.

"MOOOOOOOO!"

At Percy's feet was some sort of serpent fish cow. Take the top half of a cow and meld it together with the bottom half of a snake, that's what this creature looked like.

"Fish... cow?" Vitani asked, confused as she looked at the cow serpent that was nudging Percy's shoe.

"Vitani, you are alright." Zoe said, looking at the witch, relieved. She didn't want to lose another team member.

"Ah, Bessie." Percy said. "Not now."

"Bessie?" Luke asked, cracking a smile.

"Mooo!"

Grover gasped. "He says his name isn't Bessie."

"You can understand her... er, him?" Percy asked.

Grover nodded. "It's a very old form of animal speech. But he says his name is the Ophiotaurus."

"I think I like the name Bessie better, it's a cow name after all." Vitani said.

"Mooooooo!"

"He says that Percy is his protector." Grover announced. "And he's running from the bad people. He says they are close."

"Wait," Zoe said, looking at Percy. "You know this cow?"

Percy then explained how he had met Bessie.

Thalia shook her head in disbelief. "And you just forgot to mention this before?"

"Well... yeah?" Percy said, scratching his head.

"I am a fool." Zoe said suddenly. "I know this story!"

"What story?"

"From the War of the Titans." She said. "My... my father told me this tale, thousands of years ago. This beast is what we're looking for."

"You're thousands of years old?" Luke asked. Vitani nudged his side when Zoe scowled at him.

"Bessie?" Percy asked, looking down at the now  _bull_ serpent. "But... he's too cute. He couldn't destroy the world."

"I agree, he's adorable." Vitani smiled but then frowned in realization. "No..."

"That is how we were wrong." Zoe said. "We've been anticipating a huge dangerous monster, but the Ophiotaurus does not bring down the gods that way. He must be sacrificed."

"I knew it." Vitani grimaced.

"MMMM." Bessie lowed.

"I don't think he likes the S-word." Grover said.

Percy patted Bessie on the head, trying to calm him down. He let him scratch his ear, but he was trembling.

"How could anyone hurt him? He's harmless." Percy said.

"Percy, there's a power in killing innocence." Vitani said gravely. Zoe agreed with her.

"Terrible power. The Fates ordained a prophecy eons ago, when this creature was born. They said that whoever killed the Ophiotaurus and sacrificed its entrails to fire would have the power to destroy the gods." Zoe explained.

"MMMMMM!"

"Um, maybe we should avoid talking about  _entrails_ , too." Grover said.

Thalia stared at the cow serpent with wonder. "The power to destroy the gods... how? I mean, what would happen?"

"No one knows." Zoe said. "The first time, during the Titan war, the Ophiotaurus was in fact slain by a giant ally of the Titans, but thy father, Zeus, sent an eagle to snatch the entrails away before they could be tossed into the fire. It was a close call. Now, after three thousand years, the Ophiotaurus is reborn."

Thalia sat down on the dock. She stretched out her hand. Bessie went right to her. Thalia placed her hand on his head. Bessie shivered. She almost looked... hungry.

"We have to protect him then." Vitani said. "If Ethan gets a hold of him-"

"Ethan wouldn't hesitate." Thalia muttered, as if in a trance. "The power to overthrow Olympus. That's... that's huge."

"Yes, it is, my dear," Said a man's voice in a heavy French accent. "And it is a power  _you_ shall unleash."

The Ophiotaurus made a whimpering sound and submerged.

They looked up. They had been so busy talking that they had allowed themselves to be ambushed.

Standing behind them, his two-color eyes gleaming wickedly, was Dr. Thorn, the manticore himself.

"Long ago, the gods banished me to Persia," The manticore said. "I was forced to scrounge for food on the edges of the world, hiding in forests, devouring insignificant human farmers for my meals. I never got to fight any great heroes. I was not feared and admired in the old stories! But now that will change. The Titans shall honor me, and I shall feast on the flesh of half-bloods!"

"Where... where are the skeletons?" Percy asked the manticore.

He sneered. "I do not need those foolish undead! The General thinks I am worthless? He will change his mind when I defeat you myself!"

"We beat you once before," Percy said.

"Ha! You could barely fight me with a goddess on your side. And, alas... that goddess is preoccupied at the moment. There will be no help for you now."

Zoe notched an arrow and aimed it straight at the manticore's head. The guards on either side of us raised their guns.

"Wait!" Percy said. "Zoe, don't!"

The manticore smiled. "The boy is right, Zoe Nightshade. Put away your bow. It would be a shame to kill you before you witnessed Thalia's great victory."

"What are you talking about?" Thalia growled. She had her shield and spear ready.

"Surely it is clear." The manticore said. "This is your moment. This is why Lord Kronos brought you back to life. You will sacrifice the Ophiotaurus. You will bring its entrails to the sacred fire on the mountain. You will gain unlimited power. And for your sixteenth birthday, you will overthrow Olympus."

No one spoke. It made terrible sense. Thalia was only two days away from turning sixteen. She was a child of the Big Three. And here was a choice, a terrible choice that could mean the end of the gods. It was just like the prophecy said.

Everyone waited for Thalia to tell the manticore off, but she hesitated. She looked completely stunned.

"You know it is the right choice." The manticore told her. "You shall rule this world under the auspices of the Titans. Your father abandoned you, Thalia. He cares nothing for you. And now you shall gain power over him. Crush the Olympians underfoot, as they deserve. Call the beast! It will come to you. Use your spear."

"Thalia," Luke said, "snap out of it!"

She looked at him, dazed and uncertain. It was almost like she didn't know him. "I... I don't—"

"Your father helped you." Luke said. "He sent the metal angels. He turned you into a tree to preserve you."

Her hand tightened on the shaft of her spear.

Percy looked at Grover desperately. Thank the gods, he understood what he needed. He raised his pipes to his mouth and played a quick riff.

The manticore yelled, "Stop him!"

The guards had been targeting Zoe, and before they could figure out that the kid with the pipes was the bigger problem, the wooden planks at their feet sprouted new branches and tangled their legs. Zoe let loose two quick arrows that exploded at their feet in clouds of sulphurous yellow smoke. Fart arrows.

The guards started coughing. The manticore shot spines in our direction, but they ricocheted off Percy's lion's coat.

"Grover," Percy said, "tell Bessie to dive deep and stay down!"

"Moooooo!" Grover translated.

They could only hope that Bessie got the message.

"The cow..." Thalia muttered, still in a daze.

"Reducto! Bombarda!" Vitani shouted, and the two guards turned to dust.

Thorn looked murderous. "I'll kill you!"

Zoe responded by shooting arrows, one of which managed to lodge in his shoulder.

"Incarcerous!"

Ropes managed to hit the manticore's legs, making him trip and fall.

"Duro! Reducto!"

Dr. Thorn turned into stone before being shattered into dust.

Everyone sighed in relief.

"What is wrong with you, Thalia?" Percy demanded.

"It's Thalia's fatal flaw. Ambition. She desires power even know she doesn't need it." Luke answered.

Thalia blushed, looking down in shame.

"Oh." Percy said.

They decided to Iris-message the camp, to report had happened. Instead of Chiron as they were hoping, they had gotten Mr. D instead, whom of which was looking into the fridge.

"Oh, you lot. What do you want?" Mr. D asked.

Everyone took turned explaining what had happened so far on their quest before bringing up the matter of the Ophiotaurus.

"The Ophiotaurus." Percy said. "Can you get it to camp?"

Mr. D sniffed. "I do not transport livestock. That's your problem."

"But where do we go?"

Dionysus looked at Zoe. "Oh, I think the huntress knows. You must enter at sunset today, you know, or all is lost. Now good-bye. My pizza is waiting."

He waved his hand, and his image disappeared in the mist.

Percy looked at Zoe. "What did he mean... 'You know where to go'?"

Her face was pale. She pointed across the bay, past the Golden Gate. In the distance, a single mountain rose up above the cloud layer.

"The garden of my sisters." She said. "I must go home."

* * *

"We will never make it." Zoe said. "We are moving too slow. But we cannot leave the Ophiotaurus."

"Mooo." Bessie said. He was swimming next to Percy as the group jogged along the waterfront. They had left the shopping centre pier far behind and were heading towards the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a lot farther than they had realized. The sun was already dipping in the west.

"I don't get it." Percy said. "Why do we have to get there at sunset?"

"The Hesperides are the nymphs of the sunset." Zoe said. "We can only enter their garden as day changes to night."

"What happens if we miss it?"

"Tomorrow is winter solstice. If we miss sunset tonight, we would have to wait until tomorrow evening. And by then, the Olympian Council will be over. We must free Lady Artemis tonight."

"We need a car." Thalia said.

"But what about Bessie?" Percy asked.

Grover stopped in his tracks. "I've got an idea! The Ophiotaurus can appear in different bodies of water, right?"

"Well, yeah," Percy said. "I mean, he was in Long Island Sound. Then he just popped into the water at Hoover Dam. And now he's here."

"So maybe we could coax him back to Long Island Sound." Grover said. "Then Chiron could help us get him to Olympus."

"But he was following  _me"_ Percy said. "If I'm not there, would he know where he's going?"

"Moo." Bessie said forlornly.

"I... I can show him." Grover said. "I'll go with him."

"Are you sure Grover? You can't swim very well with your goat hooves." Vitani said worriedly.

"I'm the only one who can talk to him." Grover said. "It makes sense." He bent down and said something in Bessie's ear. Bessie shivered, then made a contented, lowing sound.

"The blessing of the Wild." Grover said. "That should help with safe passage. Percy, pray to your dad, too. See if he will grant us safe passage through the seas."

Percy tried to concentrate on the waves, the smell of the ocean, and the sound of the tide.

"Dad," He said. "Help us. Get the Ophiotaurus and Grover safely to camp. Protect them at sea."

"A prayer like that needs a sacrifice." Thalia said. "Something big."

Percy thought for a second before taking off his coat.

"Percy," Grover said. "Are you sure? That lion skin... that's really helpful. Hercules used it!"

"If I'm going to survive," Percy said, "it won't be because I've got a lion-skin cloak. I'm not Hercules."

Luke grinned. "Neither am I. I'll sacrifice my coat too."

Vitani smiled proudly at her fiance.

They then threw their coats into the bay. It turned back into a golden lion skin, flashing in the light. Then, as it began to sink beneath the waves, it seemed to dissolve into sunlight on the water.

The sea breeze picked up.

Grover took a deep breath. "Well, no time to lose."

He jumped in the water and immediately began to sink.

Bessie glided next to him and let Grover take hold of his neck.

"Be careful." Percy told them.

"We will." Grover said. "Okay, um... Bessie? We're going to Long Island. Its east. Over that way."

"Moooo?" Bessie said.

"Yes," Grover answered. "Long Island. It's this island. And ... it's long. Oh, let's just start."

"Mooo!"

Bessie lurched forward. He started to submerge and Grover said, "I can't breathe underwater! Just thought I'd mention—"  _Glub!_

Under they went, and they hoped Poseidon's protection would extend to little things, like breathing.

"Well, that is one problem addressed," Zoe said. "But how can we get to my sisters' garden?"

"Thalia's right." Percy said. "We need a car. But there's nobody to help us here. Unless we, uh, borrowed one."

Vitani sighed. "I can fix that."

"How?" Thalia asked.

"You'll see."

* * *

"Why are we standing in front of a Jaguar car store? We can't afford any of them and I don't think they do car rentals." Percy said.

Vitani ignored him and walked in.

The workers looked at them but one of them rushed forward.

"Miss Potter! I'm honoured for you to visit! Can we help you?" The manager of the store asked, immediately all the works started to whisper.

"I need a car, Mr. Tygon." Vitani said. "Now. It needs to have a full tank. Charge it to my account-"

"No, no. You don't have to pay, you own this company after all." Mr. Tygon said before he turned to the workers. "I'll get them ready right away."

The manager then hurried off.

"What? You  _own_ Jaguar?" Thalia asked, shocked. "Are you rich?"

"Like millionaire rich?" Percy asked.

Vitani snorted. "Try billionaire."

Everyone except Luke gaped. Though Luke did seem very surprised. He knew she was rich, but not that rich.

"You—what—how?" Percy stammered.

"Look, my family was wealthy, old money. They made really good investments back in the day. And when my godfather passed away, I inherited his money too. So I own a lot of companies." Vitani said before the manager came back holding a key.

"Let's go." Vitani said, taking the key. "Thanks, Mr. Tygon."

"Anytime, Miss Potter."

* * *

The car Vitani was driving was a silver Jaguar XF. Luke sat shotgun while Thalia, Zoe, and Percy sat in the back.

"Hey, Vitani, can I have this car after we're done with it?" Thalia asked.

Vitani rolled her eyes. "Yes, Thalia, you can have it. It'll be your 16th birthday present."

"Can I have a car for my 16th birthday too?" Percy asked.

"Yeah, sure." Vitani shrugged.

Vitani was speeding down the road as best she could, but they were losing time. They had about less than an hour til sunset.

"Can't you go any faster?" Thalia asked.

"I can't control the traffic, Thalia." Vitani said, sighing.

She weaved in and out of traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge. The roads were insanely narrow, winding through the forests and up the sides of the hills and around the edges of steep ravines. Vitani didn't slow down the whole way.

Ahead of them loomed Mount Tamalpais.

"So that's the Mountain of Despair?" Percy asked.

"Yes." Zoe said tightly.

"Why do they call it that?"

She was silent for almost a mile before answering. "After the war between the Titans and the gods, many of the Titans were punished and imprisoned. Kronos was sliced to pieces and thrown into Tartarus. Kronos's right-hand man, the general of his forces, was imprisoned up there, on the summit, just beyond the Garden of the Hesperides."

"The General." Luke said.

Clouds seemed to be swirling around its peak, as though the mountain was drawing them in, spinning them like a top.

"What's going on up there? A storm?" Percy asked.

Zoe didn't answer.

"We have to concentrate." Thalia said.

"The Mist is really strong here." Vitani said.

"The magical kind or the natural kind?" Percy asked.

"Both." Thalia answered.

Percy glanced down at the ocean as they passed a scenic curve, seeing something that made him jump out of his seat.

"Look!" It was too late as they had turned a corner and the ocean disappeared behind the hills.

"What?" Thalia asked.

"A big white ship." Percy said. "Docked near the beach. It looked like a cruise ship."

Her eyes widened. "Ethan's ship?"

"We will have company, then." Zoe said grimly. "Kronos' army."

Percy was about to answer, when suddenly the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. Thalia shouted, "Stop the car. NOW!"

Vitani must've sensed something was wrong, because she slammed on the brakes without question. The silver Jaguar spun twice before coming to a stop at the edge of the cliff.

"Out!" Thalia opened the door and pushed Percy hard while Luke dragged Vitani out of the car.

**BOOOOOM!**

They probably would've been killed by the shrapnel if Vitani hadn't erected a barrier in time.

" _One shall perish by a parent's hand,"_  Thalia muttered. "Curse him. He would destroy me?"

"That couldn't have been Zeus' lightning bolt, no way." Percy denied.

"Percy is right, Zeus had a dozen chances to kill you if he had wanted you dead, why would he start now?" Luke asked.

"Whose, then?" Thalia demanded.

"I don't know. Zoe said Kronos' name, maybe he-" Percy said but was cut off by Thalia.

"No. That wasn't it." Thalia said, shaking her head. She looked angry and stunned.

"Wait." Percy said, looking around. "Where's Zoe? Zoe!"

The group got up and looked around the blasted Jaguar. Nothing in either direction of the road, not even down the cliff.

"Zoe!" Percy shouted.

Zoe then appeared beside Percy and grabbed his arm. "Silence, fool! Do you want to wake Ladon?"

"You mean we're here?" Percy asked.

"Very close." She said. "Follow me.

Sheets of fog were drifting right across the road. Zoe stepped into one of them, and when the fog passed, she was no longer there.

Vitani and Luke followed right after her with Thalia and Percy bringing up the rear.

"Concentrate on Zoe." Thalia advised. "We are following her. Go straight into the fog and keep that in mind."


	23. Chapter 23

Soon they saw a five story tall apple tree, every branch glittered with golden apples. The fragrance of the apples were immensely appealing, promising that a single bite would be the most delicious thing one would ever taste.

"The apples of immortality." Thalia said. "Hera's wedding gift from Zeus."

Luke scowled at both the apples and the dragon guarding it. Vitani looked up at him worriedly. Luke gave a strained smile.

She knew that the sight would make Luke uncomfortable. Hermes had offered Luke a quest when he was 17, to seek a Golden apple at the Garden of Hesperides from the tree. Luke had been honoured and went on the quest, despite questioning as to why since it was done before by Hercules, and he didn't want to do a quest that someone else had already done. In the end, he had failed the quest and received the scar on his face from Ladon, not to mention, he was treated with pity by the campers when he returned. The only bright side was that he had made it back with one of Ladon's claws.

"Are you okay?" Vitani said, gripping Luke's hand tightly.

"I'll be fine." Luke said, trying to reassure his worried fiance.

"I'll be right here with you." Vitani said.

Four figures shimmered into existence, four young women who looked very much like Zoe. They all wore white Greek chitons. Their skin was like caramel. Silky black hair tumbled loose around their shoulders. They looked just like Zoe—gorgeous, and probably very dangerous.

"Sisters." Zoe said.

"We do not see any sister." One of the girls said coldly. "We see 5 half-bloods and a hunter. All of whom shall soon die."

Luke stood in front of Vitani protectively.

"You've got it wrong." Percy said, stepping forward. "Nobody is going to die."

The girls studied him. They had eyes like volcanic rock, glassy and completely black.

"Perseus Jackson." One of them said.

"Yes." Mused another." I do not see why he is a threat."

"Who said I was a threat?" Percy asked.

The first Hesperid glanced behind her, toward the top of the mountain.

"They fear thee. They are unhappy that  _this_ one has not yet killed thee."

She pointed at Thalia.

"Tempting sometimes." Thalia admitted. "But no, thanks. He's my friend."

"There are no friends here, daughter of Zeus." The girl said. "Only enemies. Go back."

"Not without Annabeth." Thalia said.

"And Artemis," Zoe said. "We must approach the mountain."

"You know he will kill thee." The girl said. "You are no match for him."

"Artemis must be freed." Zoe insisted. "Let us pass."

The girl shook her head. "You have no rights here anymore. We have only to raise our voices and Ladon will wake."

"He will not hurt me." Zoe said.

"No? And what about thy so-called friends?"

Then Zoe did the last thing anyone had expected. She shouted, "Ladon! Wake!"

The dragon stirred, glittering like a mountain of pennies. The Hesperides yelped and scattered.

The lead girl said to Zoe, "Are you mad?"

"You never had any courage, sister." Zoe said. "That is thy problem."

The dragon Ladon was writhing now, a hundred heads whipping around, tongues flickering and tasting the air. Zoe took a step forward, her arms raised.

"Zoe, don't." Thalia said. "You're not a Hesperid anymore. He'll kill you."

"Ladon is trained to protect the tree." Zoe said. "Skirt around the edges of the garden. Go up the mountain. As long as I am a bigger threat, he should ignore thee."

" _Should._ " Percy said. "Not exactly reassuring."

"It is the only way." She said. "Even the five of us together cannot fight him."

Vitani wanted to object, knowing her magic could do tons of damage to the dragon, but stayed silent.

Thalia and Percy went left. Luke and Vitani went right. Zoe walked straight toward the monster.

"It's me, my little dragon." Zoe said. "Zoe has come back."

Ladon shifted forward, then back. Some of the mouths closed. Some kept hissing. Dragon confusion. Meanwhile, the Hesperides shimmered and turned into shadows.

The voice of the eldest whispered, "Fool."

"I used to feed thee by hand," Zoe continued, speaking in a soothing voice as she stepped toward the golden tree. "Do you still like lamb's meat?"

The dragon's eyes glinted.

The four of them were about halfway around the garden. Ahead, there was a single rocky trail leading up to the black peak of the mountain. The storm swirled above it, spinning on the summit like it was the axis for the whole world.

They had almost made it out of the meadow when something went wrong. The dragon lunged at Zoe.

Two thousand years of training kept her alive. She dodged one set of slashing fangs and tumbled under another, weaving through the dragon's heads as she ran in our direction, gagging from the monster's horrible breath.

Percy drew Riptide to help.

"No!" Zoe panted. "Run!"

The dragon snapped at her side, and Zoe cried out.

Thalia uncovered Aegis, and the dragon hissed. In his moment of indecision, Zoe sprinted past them up the mountain, and they followed.

The dragon didn't try to pursue. He hissed and stomped the ground, but stayed at the tree. It seemed that he was trained well enough to not run at the prospect of new meat.

They ran up the mountain as the Hesperides resumed their song in the shadows behind them.

At the top of mountain were ruins, blocks of black granite and marble as big as houses. Broken columns. Statues of bronze that looked as though they'd been half melted.

"The ruins of Mount Othrys." Vitani whispered in awe.

"Yes." Zoe said. "It was not here before. This is bad."

"What's Mount Othrys?" Percy asked, feeling like a fool as usual.

"The mountain fortress of the Titans." Zoe said. "In the first war, Olympus and Othrys were the two rival capitals of the world. Othrys was—" She winced and held her side.

"You're hurt." Vitani said. "Let me see."

"No! It is nothing. I was saying... in the first war, Othrys was blasted to pieces."

"But... how is it here?" Percy asked.

Luke looked around cautiously as they picked our way through the rubble, past blocks of marble and broken archways. "It moves in the same way that Olympus moves. It always exists on the edges of civilization. But the fact that it is here, on  _this_ mountain, is not good."

"Why?"

"This is Atlas's mountain." Zoe said. "Where he holds—" She froze. Her voice was ragged with despair. "Where he used to hold up the sky."

They had finally reached the summit. A few yards ahead of them, grey clouds swirled in a heavy vortex, making a funnel cloud that almost touched the mountaintop, but instead rested on the shoulders of a twelve-year-old girl with auburn hair and a tattered silvery dress: Artemis, her legs bound to the rock with celestial bronze chains.

"My lady!" Zoe rushed forward, but Artemis stopped her.

"Stop! It is a trap. You must leave now." The goddess said urgently. Her voice was strained and she was drenched in sweat. The weight of the sky was clearly too much for Artemis, she looked like she was in great pain.

Zoe was crying. She ran forward despite Artemis's protests, and tugged at the chains.

A booming voice spoke behind them: "Ah, how touching."

They turned. The General was standing there in his brown silk suit. At his side was Ethan and half a dozen dracaenae bearing the golden sarcophagus of Kronos. Annabeth stood at Ethan's side. She had her hands cuffed behind her back, a gag in her mouth, and Ethan was holding the point of his sword to her throat.

"Ethan," Luke snarled. "Let her go."

Ethan's smile was weak and pale. He looked even worse than he had three days ago in D.C. "That is the General's decision, Luke. But it's good to see you again."

Luke growled at him.

The General chuckled. "So much for old friends. And you, Zoe. It's been a long time. How is my little traitor? I will enjoy killing you."

"Wait a second." Percy said. "You're Atlas?"

The General glanced at him. "So, even the stupidest of heroes can finally figure something out. Yes, I am Atlas, the general of the Titans and terror of the gods. Congratulations. I will kill you presently, as soon as I deal with this wretched girl."

"You're not going to hurt Zoe." Percy said. "I won't let you."

The General sneered. "You have no right to interfere, little hero. This is a family matter."

Percy frowned. "A family matter?"

"Yes," Zoe said bleakly. "Atlas is my father."

Percy paused in shock. Thalia, Luke, and Vitani looked grim, they had already figured it out but it was still shocking to hear it from Zoe herself.

"Let Artemis go!" Zoe demanded.

Atlas walked closer to the chained goddess. "Perhaps you'd like to take the sky for her, then? Be my guest."

Zoe opened her mouth to speak, but Artemis said, "No! Do not offer, Zoe! I forbid you."

Atlas smirked. He knelt next to Artemis and tried to touch her face, but the goddess bit at him, almost taking off his fingers.

"Hoo-hoo," Atlas chuckled. "You see, daughter? Lady Artemis likes her new job. I think I will have all the Olympians take turns carrying my burden, once Lord Kronos rules again, and this is the centre of our palace. It will teach those weaklings some humility."

Annabeth groaned through her gag. She looked incredibly tried, and her blonde hair was now streaked with grey.

"From holding the sky." Thalia muttered. "The weight should've killed her."

"I don't understand." Percy said. "Why can't Artemis just let go of the sky?"

Atlas laughed. "How little you understand, young one. This is the point where the sky and the earth first met, where Ouranos and Gaia first brought forth their mighty children, the Titans. The sky still yearns to embrace the earth. Someone must hold it at bay, or else it would crush down upon this place, instantly flattening the mountain and everything within a hundred leagues. Once you have taken the burden, there is no escape." Atlas smiled. "Unless someone else takes it from you."

He approached us, studying Thalia, Luke, Vitani, and Percy. "So these are the best heroes of the age, eh? Not much of a challenge."

"Fight us." Percy said. "And let's see."

"Have the gods taught you nothing? An immortal does not fight a mere mortal directly. It is beneath our dignity. I will have Ethan crush you instead."

"So you're another coward." Percy said.

Atlas's eyes glowed with hatred. With difficulty, he turned his attention to Thalia. "As for you, daughter of Zeus, you still can join us. Call the Ophiotaurus. It will come to you. Look!"

He waved his hand, and next to us a pool of water appeared: a pond ringed in black marble, big enough for the Ophiotaurus.

"Thalia, call the Ophiotaurus." Atlas persisted. "And you will be more powerful than the gods."

"Thalia, don't listen to him." Luke said, cutting into the conversation.

Thalia shook her head, trying not to listen to Atlas' poisonous words. "Free Annabeth. Let her go."

"If you join me." Atlas promised.

"Do not, Thalia." Zoe warned. "We must fight them."

Atlas waved his hand again, and a fire appeared. A bronze brazier, just like the one at camp. A sacrificial flame.

"Thalia." Vitani said. "No. Don't listen to a single word he says."

Behind Ethan, the golden sarcophagus began to glow. As it did, they saw images in the mist all around us: black marble walls rising, the ruins becoming whole, a terrible and beautiful palace rising around them, made of fear and shadow.

"We will raise Mount Othrys right here," Atlas promised. "Once more, it will be stronger and greater than Olympus. Look, Thalia. We are not weak."

He pointed toward the ocean. Marching up the side of the mountain, from the beach where the  _Princess Andromeda_ was docked, was a great army. Dracaenae and Laestrygonians, monsters and half-bloods, hell hounds, harpies, and other several types of monsters. The whole ship must've been emptied, because there were hundreds, many more than they had seen on board last summer. And they were marching toward them. In a few minutes, they would be here.

"This is only a taste of what is to come." Atlas said. "Soon we will be ready to storm Camp Half-Blood. And after that, Olympus itself. All we need is your help."

For a terrible moment, Thalia hesitated. But she soon gathered her bearings and leveled her spear. "I will never join you."

Percy looked at Thalia, Luke, Vitani, and Zoe, and decided it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to die fighting with friends like this.

"Now." Percy said.

Together, they charged.

Thalia went straight for Ethan. The power of her shield was so great that his dragon- women bodyguards fled in a panic, dropping the golden coffin and leaving him alone.

But despite his sickly appearance, Ethan was still quick with his sword. He snarled like a wild animal and counterattacked. When his sword met Thalia's shield, a ball of lightning erupted between them, frying the air with yellow tendrils of power.

Luke and Percy probably did what was the stupidest thing in their entire lives, they charged at Atlas together.

He laughed as they approached. A huge javelin appeared in his hands. His silk suit melted into full Greek battle armor. "Go on, then!"

"Percy! Luke!" Zoe said. "Beware!"

They knew what she was warning them about. Chiron had told them long ago:  _Immortals are constrained by ancient rules. But a hero can go anywhere, challenge anyone, as long as he has the nerve_. Once they attacked, however, Atlas was free to attack back directly, with all his might.

Percy swung his sword, and Atlas knocked him aside with the shaft of his javelin, doing the same to Luke. They flew through the air and slammed into a black wall. It wasn't Mist anymore. The palace was rising, brick by brick. It was becoming real.

"Fool!" Atlas screamed gleefully, swatting aside one of Zoe's arrows. "Did you think, simply because you could challenge that petty war god, that you could stand up to  _me_?"

Vitani shot spell after spell, but none of them effected Atlas much. And she couldn't risk using her more destructive spells or Clow cards, it was a pretty enclosed space, she didn't want to hurt her friends and fiance by accident.

Luke and Percy charged against, but even together, Atlas was more than a match for them.

The javelins point slashed toward Percy like a scythe. He raised Riptide, planning to cut off his weapon at the shaft, but his arm felt like lead. His sword suddenly weighed a ton.

Percy then remembered Ares's warning, spoken on the beach in Los Angeles so long ago:  _When you need it most, your sword will fail you_.

 _Not now_! Percy pleaded. But it was no good. Luke tried to defend Percy, but the javelin caught him in the chest, making Luke crash against Percy and sent them flying like rag dolls. They slammed into the ground, their heads spinning. Luke looked up and found that he and Percy were at the feet of Artemis, who was still straining under the weight of the sky.

"Run, boys." She told them. "You must run!"

Atlas was taking his time coming toward them, totally ignoring both Zoe and Vitani.

"Die, little heroes." Atlas said.

He raised his javelin to impale them.

"No!" Zoe yelled, and a volley of silver arrows sprouted from the armpit chink in Atlas's armour at the same time Vitani managed to shoot an overpowered reducto curse.

"ARGH!" He bellowed and turned toward his daughter and the witch.

Percy then remembered the words of the prophecy:  _The Titan's curse must two withstand_. He couldn't hope to beat Atlas, even with Luke who was a better swordsman than him. But there was someone else who might stand a chance.

"The sky," Percy told the goddess. "Give it to us."

"No, boy," Artemis said. Her forehead was beaded with metallic sweat, like quicksilver. "You don't know what you're asking. It will crush you!"

"Annabeth took it!"

"She barely survived. She had the spirit of a true huntress. You two will not last so long."

"We'll die anyway." Luke said. "Give us the weight of the sky!"

Percy didn't wait for her answer. He took out Riptide and slashed through her chains, Luke doing the same with the other chain. Then they stepped next to her, one on either side of her and braced themselves on one knee—holding up their hands—and touched the cold, heavy clouds. For a moment, Artemis, Luke, and Percy bore the weight together. It was the heaviest thing they had ever felt, as if they were being crushed under a thousand trucks. The two wanted to black out from the pain, but they breathed in deeply.  _We_ _can do this_.

Then Artemis slipped out from under the burden, leaving both Luke and Percy to bear the burden alone.

Vitani immediately scrambled over to the two.

"I can help!" Vitani said, getting down to help lift the sky, but Luke shouted at her with his highly strained voice.

"No! Don't!"

Vitani bit her lip before widening her eyes. She took out two Clow cards and summoned their spirits. "Power, please give Luke your strength. Watery, give Percy yours!"

The two spirits did as told. The Power spirit melded with Luke, giving him superhuman strength. It eased his burden enough so he didn't feel as strained as he held up the sky.

"Thank you." Luke said, sweating.

Watery transformed into a bubble of magical water and encased Percy within her, also giving him new strength.

Percy also mouthed a 'thank you' from within the bubble of water.

Vitani then wiped the sweat off their Luke's face, trying to keep him as comfortable as possible.

Atlas advanced, pressing Artemis. She was fast, but his strength was unstoppable. His javelin slammed into the earth where Artemis had been a split second before, and a fissure opened in the rocks. He leaped over it and kept pursuing her. She was leading him back toward Percy and Luke.

 _Get ready_ , she spoke in their minds.

"You fight well for a girl." Atlas laughed. "But you are no match for me."

He feinted with the tip of his javelin and Artemis dodged.

Atlas's then javelin swept around and knocked Artemis's legs off the ground. She fell, and Atlas brought up his javelin tip for the kill.

"No!" Zoe screamed. She leaped between her father and Artemis and shot an arrow straight into the Titan's forehead, where it lodged like a unicorn's horn.

Atlas bellowed in rage. He swept aside his daughter with the back of his hand, sending her flying into the black rocks. Vitani immediately ran to her aid.

Then Atlas turned on Artemis with a look of triumph in his face. Artemis seemed to be wounded. She didn't get up.

"The first blood in a new war." Atlas gloated. And he stabbed downward.

Just as fast as though, Artemis grabbed his javelin shaft. It hit the earth right next to her and she pulled backward, using the javelin like a lever, kicking the Titan Lord and sending him flying over her.

Luke and Percy saw him coming down on top of them and realized what would happen. They loosened my grip on the sky, and as Atlas slammed into them, they didn't try to hold on. They let themselves be pushed out of the way and rolled for all they were worth.

The weight of the sky dropped onto Atlas's back, almost smashing him flat until he managed to get to his knees, struggling to get out from under the crushing weight of the sky. But it was too late.

" _Noooooo_!" He bellowed so hard it shook the mountain. " _Not again_!"

Atlas was trapped under his old burden.

Thalia backed Ethan to the edge of a cliff, but still they fought on, next to the golden coffin.

He lunged at Thalia and she slammed him with her shield. Ethan's sword spun out of his hands and clattered to the rocks. Thalia put her spear point to his throat. For a moment, there was silence.

"Well?" Ethan asked. He tried to hide it, but they could hear fear in his voice.

Thalia trembled with fury but hesitated, and Ethan made a desperate grab for her spear.

Without thinking, Thalia kicked Ethan away. He lost his balance, terror on his face, and then he fell.

Everyone excluding Vitani, Artemis, and Zoe, rushed to the cliff's edge. Below them, the army from the  _Princess Andromeda_ had stopped in amazement. They were staring at Ethan's broken form on the rocks. The fall was fifty feet at least, and he wasn't moving.

One of the giants looked up and growled. "Kill them!"

Luke pulled Thalia back as a wave of javelins sailed over their heads. They ran for the rocks, ignoring the curses and threats of Atlas as they passed.

"Artemis!" Luke yelled.

The goddess looked up, her face was grief-stricken. Zoe lay in the goddess's arms. She was breathing. Her eyes were open. But still...

"The wound is poisoned," Artemis said.

"Atlas poisoned her?" Percy asked.

"No." The goddess said. "Not Atlas."

She showed us the wound in Zoe's side. The bite from Ladon was much worse than Zoe had let on. They could barely look at the wound. She had charged into battle against her father with a horrible cut already sapping her strength.

"Can't you use your Phoenix tears?" Thalia asked.

"There's not enough for a wound that big!" Vitani shook her head, her eyes were full of sorrow.

"The stars." Zoe murmured. "I cannot see them."

"Nectar and ambrosia." Percy said. "Come on! We have to get her some."

No one moved. Grief hung in air. The army of Kronos was just below the rise. Even Artemis was too shocked to stir. They might've met our doom right there, but then Vitani stood up. She looked down below, her expression was war hardened.

She then pointed her wand at them. "FIENDFYRE!"

A enormous stream of cursed fire shot from her wand. Everyone watched as the flames morphed into deadly creatures that chased after the now fleeing army.

Dragons, Chimeras, Giant Snakes, a Deadly Wild Cat, you name it, the fire took that shape and chased the monsters down. They watched as the monsters who were caught perished in the flames with a cry of pain.

But they didn't have time to admire Vitani's magical fire.

Just then, the moonlight brightened, and a silver chariot appeared from the sky, drawn by the most beautiful deer anyone had ever seen. It landed right next to them.

"Get in." Artemis said.

Annabeth helped Percy get Thalia on board while Luke helped Vitani. Then Percy and Luke helped Artemis with Zoe. They wrapped Zoe in a blanket as Artemis pulled the reins and the chariot sped away from the mountain, straight into the air.

"Like Santa Claus's sleigh." Percy murmured, still dazed with pain.

Luke looked exhausted as he leaned against his fiance. Vitani looked at him with worry but Luke just smiled reassuringly at her.

Artemis took time to look back at him. "Indeed, young half-blood. And where do you think that legend came from?"

Behind them, the partly decimated army of Kronos roared in anger as they gathered on the summit of Mount Tamalpais, but the loudest sound was the voice of Atlas, bellowing curses against the gods as he struggled under the weight of the sky. Vitani ended the fire, putting it out as she didn't want to to spread too far from the mountain. It would be just her luck if her cursed fire burned through a large forest and into a city.


	24. Chapter 24

They had landed at Crissy field after midnight.

Artemis laid Zoe on the field and knelt to her side, binding the Huntress' wounds with Vitani's help.

Vitani had offered some ambrosia and nectar, but Zoe refused.

Artemis attempted to heal Zoe, but Zoe just gripped her wrist. She looked into the goddess' eyes, and they came to an understanding.

"Have I... served thee well?" Zoe whispered.

"With great honour." Artemis said softly. "The finest of my attendants."

Zoe's face relaxed. "Rest. At last."

" _One shall perish by a parent's hand._ " Vitani said, tears gathering in her eyes.

Luke, Thalia, and Percy then understood. It wasn't only the poison killing her, it was her father's final blow. Zoe had known all along that the Oracle's prophecy was about her: she would die by a parent's hand. And yet she'd taken the quest anyway. She had chosen to save them, and Atlas' fury had broken her inside.

She then took Thalia's hand. "I'm sorry we argued, we could've been sisters."

Thalia blinked hard as the tears fell from her eyes.

"Perhaps not all men are as bad as I thought." Zoe murmured, she smiled at Luke before turning to Percy. "Do you still have that sword, Percy?"

Percy couldn't speak, but brought out Riptide and put the pen in her hand. She grasped it contently. "You spoke the truth, Percy Jackson. You are nothing like… like Hercules. I am honoured that you carry this sword. You too, Luke Castellan. Vitani has chosen well."

Luke bowed his head.

"I too once walked to my death, Zoe. You're one of the bravest people I have ever had the honour of meeting." Vitani said tearfully.

"I stand by what I had said. Thou would have made an excellent Huntress, but I see now that you are more suited for a different life. Destined to walk at Luke's side."

Vitani nodded and held Luke's hand, who gave her a reassuring squeeze.

A shudder ran through Zoe's body.

"Stars." She whispered. "I can see the stars again, my Lady."

Everyone was silent.

"Stars." Zoe repeated. Her eyes fixed on the night sky. And she did not move again.

Thalia and Luke lowered their heads. Annabeth gulped down a sob and Percy put a hand on her shoulders.

Vitani took out her star wand and gave a look to Artemis, who nodded.

Vitani took a breath and pointed her star wand at Zoe. A silvery wisp a smoke exhaled from Zoe's lips and was caught at the tip of Vitani's star wand. Zoe's body shimmered and disappeared.

Vitani then stood with Artemis. The goddess murmured a blessing before Vitani shot the silver dust into the sky. It flew up, sparkling, and vanished.

For a moment, no one had saw anything different. Then they gasped. Looking up at the sky, the stars were much brighter now. They made a pattern that they hadn't seen before, a gleaming constellation that looked like a girl's figure—a girl with a bow, running across the sky.

"Let the world honour you, my Huntress." Artemis said.

"And live forever in the stars." Vitani finished.

"Zoe would love it." Thalia said, choking on a sob.

Artemis looked very upset as she flickered with silver light. Then again, many people would if they lost a companion they had, had for a couple thousand years.

"I must go to Olympus immediately." Artemis said. "I will not be able to take you, but I will send help."

She then turned to Luke and Percy. "You did well, for a couple of men."

The two wanted to protest, but realized it was the first time that Artemis hadn't called them 'boys'.

She mounted her chariot, which began to glow. Everyone averted their eyes. There was a flash of silver, and the goddess was gone.

They then heard a whoosh of large wings. Three Pegasi and two thestrals descended through the fog.

"Blackjack!" Percy called.

"Skyshadow." Luke grinned, patting the thestral.

Now, everyone in their group currently could see them, for they (excluding Annabeth) had seen two people die on this quest.

"Darknight." Vitani smiled, patting her own thestral.

"Nah." Percy said out loud as he talked to the horses. "These are my friends. We need to get to Olympus pretty fast."

Everyone mounted their steeds and they flew off. Thalia was so exhausted that she had fallen asleep on her Pegasus.

Annabeth was talking to Percy, saying that she had a feeling that Ethan was still alive. Percy hoped not, but there was a slim chance.

The daughter of Athena then looked back at Luke, who was talking softly to Vitani. It was then that Percy realized that Annabeth still had feelings for the son of Hermes, despite that he was engaged and completely in love with Vitani.

It was also the same with Thalia.

Soon the towns were zipping by fast, the islands of light flickered together until the who landscape below was a glittering carpet. Dawn was getting close as the eastern sky was turning grey.

Up ahead of them, a huge white and yellow glow spread out before them—the lights of New York.

"There it is." Thalia said, having woken up. "It's started."

"What's started?" Percy asked.

"The Winter Solstice." Luke answered. "The council of the Gods."

* * *

In the early-morning darkness, torches and fires made the mountainside palaces glow twenty different colours, from blood red to indigo. Apparently no one ever slept on Olympus.

The twisting streets were full of demigods and nature spirits and minor godlings bustling about, riding chariots or sedan chairs carried by Cyclopes. Winter didn't seem to exist here. The scent of the gardens in were full bloom, jasmine and roses and other even sweeter flowers. Music drifted up from many windows, the soft sounds of lyres and reed pipes.

Towering at the peak of the mountain was the greatest palace of all, the glowing white hall of the gods.

Their Pegasi and Thestrals set them down on the outer courtyard, in front of huge silver gates. Before they could even think to knock, the gates opened by themselves.

Blackjack, Skyshadow, and their friends flew off, leaving Thalia, Luke, Vitani, Annabeth, and Percy alone. For a minute they stood there regarding the palace, the way Percy and Annabeth stood together in front of Westover Hall, what seemed like a million years ago. And then, side by side, they walked into the throne room.

Twelve enormous thrones made a U around a central hearth, just like the placement of the cabins at camp (except for Hecate's). The ceiling above glittered with constellations-even the newest one, Zoe the Huntress, making her way across the heavens with her bow drawn.

All of the seats were occupied. Each god and goddess was about fifteen feet tall, and were incredibly intimidating when all of their eyes landed on the group of Demigods before them.

"Welcome, heroes." Artemis greeted.

"Mooo!"

That's when they noticed Bessie and Grover. A sphere of water was hovering in the centre of the room, next to the hearth fire. Bessie was swimming happily around, swishing his serpent tail and poking his head out the sides and bottom of the sphere. He seemed to be enjoying the novelty of swimming in a magic bubble.

Grover was kneeling at Zeus's throne, as if he'd just been giving a report, but when he saw them, he cried, "You made it!" He started to run toward Percy, then remembered he was turning his back on Zeus, and looked for permission.

"Go on." Zeus said. But he wasn't really paying attention to Grover. The lord of the sky was staring intently at Thalia.

Grover trotted over. None of the gods spoke. Every clop of Grover's hooves echoed on the marble floor.

Bessie splashed in his bubble of water. The hearth fire crackled. Percy looked hesitantly at his father, relaxing slightly when Poseidon smiled at him.

Grover gave all of them big hugs. Then he grasped Percy's arms. "Percy, Bessie and I made it! But you have to convince them! They can't do it!"

"Do what?" Percy asked.

"Heroes." Artemis called.

The goddess slid down from her throne and turned to human size, a young auburn-haired girl, perfectly at ease in the midst of the giant Olympians. She walked toward the group, her silver robes shimmering. There was no emotion in her face, and she seemed to walk in a column of moonlight.

"The Council has been informed of your deeds." Artemis said. "They know that Mount Othrys is rising in the West. They know of Atlas' attempt for freedom, and the gathering armies of Kronos. We have voted to act."

There was some mumbling and shuffling among the gods, as if they weren't all happy with this plan, but nobody protested.

"At my Lord Zeus' command," Artemis said, "my brother Apollo and I shall hunt the most powerful monsters, seeking to strike them down before they can join the Titans' cause. Lady Athena shall personally check on the other Titans to make sure they do not escape their various prisons. Lord Poseidon has been given permission to unleash his full fury on the cruise ship Princess Andromeda and send it to the bottom of the sea. And as for you, my heroes..."

She turned to face the other immortals.

"These half-bloods have done Olympus a great service. Would any here deny that?" She looked around at the assembled gods, meeting their faces individually.

Zeus in his dark pin-striped suit, his black beard neatly trimmed, and his eyes sparking with energy. Next to him sat a beautiful woman with silver hair braided over one shoulder and a dress that shimmered colours like peacock feathers. The Lady Hera.

On Zeus's right, Poseidon.

Next to him, a huge lump of a man with a leg in a steel brace, a misshapen head, and a wild brown beard, fire flickering through his whiskers. The Lord of the Forges, Hephaestus.

Hermes smiled proudly at Luke, who hesitantly returned the smile, before the Messenger God winked at Vitani. He was wearing a business suit today, checking messages on his caduceus mobile phone.

Apollo leaned back in his golden throne with his shades on. He had iPod headphones on and gave them a thumbs-up.

Dionysus looked bored, twirling a grape vine between his fingers. And Ares, well, he sat on his chrome-and-leather throne, glowering at Percy while he sharpened a knife.

On the ladies' side of the throne room, a dark-haired goddess in green robes sat next to Hera on a throne woven of apple-tree branches. Demeter, Goddess of the Harvest.

Next to her sat a beautiful grey-eyed woman in an elegant white dress. She could only be Annabeth's mother, Athena.

Then there was Aphrodite, who smiled at Percy knowingly, making him blush. She then looked at Luke, who stared at her with confusion before looking at Vitani, then back at her once more.

"Two Vitanis?" Luke murmured before realizing that he was looking at Aphrodite, who was said to appear to others as their personal epitome of physical attraction. Vitani was Luke's epitome of attraction, both physical and emotional, it was no wonder he saw Vitani when he looked at Aphrodite.

All the Olympians in one place. So much power in this room it was a miracle the whole palace didn't blow apart.

"I gotta say," Apollo broke the silence, "these kids did okay." He cleared his throat and began to recite: "Heroes win laurels-"

"Um, yes, first class." Hermes interrupted, like he was anxious to avoid Apollo's poetry. "All in favor of not disintegrating them?" A few tentative hands went up.

"Wait just a minute." Ares growled. He pointed at Thalia and Percy. "These two are dangerous. It'd be much safer, while we've got them here-"

"Ares," Poseidon interrupted, "they are worthy heroes. We will not blast my son to bits."

"Nor my daughter." Zeus grumbled. "She has done well."

Thalia blushed before studying the floor.

The goddess Athena cleared her throat and sat forward. "I am proud of my daughter as well. But there is a security risk here with the other two."

"Mother!" Annabeth said. "How can you-"

Athena cut her off with a calm but firm look.

"It is unfortunate that my father, Zeus, and my uncle, Poseidon, chose to break their oath not to have more children. Only Hades kept his word, a fact that I find ironic. As we know from the Great Prophecy, children of the three elder gods... such as Thalia and Percy... are dangerous. As thickheaded as he is, Ares has a point."

"Right!" Ares said before he realized what Athena had just said. "Hey, wait a minute. Who you callin'-"

He started to get up, but a grape vine grew around his waist like a seat belt and pulled him back down.

"Oh, please, Ares." Dionysus sighed. "Save the fighting for later."

Ares cursed and ripped away the vine. "You're one to talk, you old drunk. You seriously want to protect these brats?"

Dionysus gazed down at them wearily. "I have no love for them. Athena, do you truly think it safest to destroy them?"

"I do not pass judgement." Athena said. "I only point out the risk. What we do, the Council must decide."

"I will not have them punished." Artemis said. "I will have them rewarded. If we destroy heroes who do us a great favor, then we are no better than the Titans. If this is Olympian justice, I will have none of it."

"Calm down, sis." Apollo said. "Jeez, you need to lighten up."

"Don't call me sis! I will reward them."

"Well," Zeus grumbled. "Perhaps. But the monster at least must be destroyed. We have agreement on that?" A lot of nodding heads.

"Bessie? You want to destroy Bessie?" Percy asked.

"Mooooooo!" Bessie protested.

Poseidon frowned. "You have named the Ophiotaurus, Bessie?"

"Dad," Percy said, "he's just a sea creature. A really nice sea creature. You can't destroy him."

Poseidon shifted uncomfortably. "Percy, the monster's power is considerable. If the Titans were to steal it, or-"

"You can't." Percy insisted and looked at Zeus, staring him right in the eye. "Controlling the prophecies never works. Isn't that true? Besides, Bess-the Ophiotaurus is innocent. Killing something like that is wrong. It's just as wrong as... as Kronos eating his children, just because of something they might do. It's wrong!"

Zeus seemed to consider this. His eyes drifted to his daughter Thalia. "And what of the risk? Kronos knows full well, if one of you were to sacrifice the beast's entrails, you would have the power to destroy us. Do you think we can let that possibility remain? You, my daughter, will turn sixteen on the morrow, just as the prophecy says."

"You have to trust them." Annabeth spoke up. "Sir, you have to trust them."

Zeus scowled. "Trust a hero?"

"Annabeth is right." Artemis said. "Which is why I must first make a reward. My faithful companion, Zoe Nightshade, has passed into the stars. I must have a new lieutenant. And I intend to choose one. But first, Father Zeus, I must speak to you privately."

Zeus beckoned Artemis forward. He leaned down and listened as she spoke in his ear.

A feeling of panic seized Percy. "Annabeth," He said under his breath. "Don't."

She frowned at him. "What?"

"Look, I need to tell you something." He continued. The words came stumbling out of him. "I couldn't stand it if... I don't want you to-"

"Percy?" She said. "You look like you're going to be sick."

Then Artemis turned. "I shall have a new lieutenant," she announced. "If she will accept it."

"No." Percy murmured.

"Thalia," Artemis said. "Daughter of Zeus. Will you join the Hunt?"

Stunned silence filled the room. Percy and Luke stared at Thalia as if they couldn't believe what they were hearing. Annabeth smiled, she squeezed Thalia's hand and let it go, as if she'd been expecting this all along. Thalia took then one look at Luke, then at his left hand, which was holding Vitani's right hand. She eyed Luke's and Vitani's engagement rings before turning to Artemis.

"I will." Thalia said firmly.

Zeus rose, his eyes full of concern. "My daughter, consider well-"

"Father." She said. "I will not turn sixteen tomorrow. I will never turn sixteen. I won't let this prophecy be mine. I stand with my sister Artemis. Kronos will never tempt me again." She knelt before the goddess and began the words I remembered from Bianca's oath, what seemed like so long ago. "I pledge myself to the goddess Artemis. I turn my back on the company of men..."

Afterwards, Thalia gave Luke a hug before giving a surprised Percy one too.

Percy blushed. When she pulled away and gripped his shoulders, he said, "Um... aren't you supposed to not do that anymore? Hug boys, I mean?"

"I'm honouring a friend." She corrected. "I must join the Hunt, Percy. I haven't known peace since... since Half-Blood Hill. I finally feel like I have a home. But you're a hero. You will be the one of the prophecy."

"Great." Percy muttered.

"Being a child of prophecy sucks, doesn't it?" Vitani whispered, speaking from experience.

"You can say that again." Percy sighed.

"I'm proud to be your friend." Thalia said, hugging Annabeth, who was trying hard not to cry. Then she even hugged Grover, who looked ready to pass out, like somebody had just given him an all-you-can-eat enchilada coupon. Afterwards, she gave Vitani a hug.

"You take good care of Luke, he can be a handful sometimes." Thalia said.

Vitani smiled and hugged her back. "You can count on me."

Then Thalia went to stand by Artemis's side. "Now for the Ophiotaurus." Artemis said.

"This boy is still dangerous," Dionysus warned. "The beast is a temptation to great power. Even if we spare the boy-"

"No." Percy looked around at all the gods. "Please. Keep the Ophiotaurus safe. My dad can hide him under the sea somewhere, or keep him in an aquarium here in Olympus. But you have to protect him."

"And why should we trust you?" rumbled Hephaestus.

"I'm only fourteen." Percy said. "If this prophecy is about me, that's two more years."

"Two years for Kronos to deceive you." Athena said. "Much can change in two years, my young hero."

"Mother!" Annabeth said, exasperated.

"It is only the truth, child. It is bad strategy to keep the animal alive. Or the boy." Athena said.

Poseidon stood. "I will not have a sea creature destroyed, if I can help it. And I can help it." He held out his hand, and a trident appeared in it: a twenty foot long bronze shaft with three spear tips that shimmered with blue, watery light. "I will vouch for the boy and the safety of the Ophiotaurus."

"You won't take it under the sea!" Zeus stood suddenly. "I won't have that kind of bargaining chip in your possession."

"Brother, please." Poseidon sighed in exasperation. Zeus's lightning bolt appeared in his hand, a shaft of electricity that filled the whole room with the smell of ozone. "Fine, I will build an aquarium for the creature here. Hephaestus can help me. The creature will be safe. We shall protect it with all our powers. The boy will not betray us. I vouch for this on my honour."

Zeus thought about this. "All in favor?"

To the demigods' surprise, a lot of hands went up. Dionysus abstained. So did Ares and Athena. But everybody else...

"We have a majority," Zeus decreed. "And so, since we will not be destroying these heroes... I imagine we should honour them. Let the triumph celebration begin!"

Vitani sighed in relief, for the most part, the gods had ignored her. It was good to be out of the spotlight, the last thing she needed were paranoid gods watching her all the time.

There are parties, and then there are huge, major, blowout parties. And then there are Olympian parties. If you ever get a choice, go for the Olympian.

The Nine Muses cranked up the tunes, and they realized the music was whatever you wanted it to be: the gods could listen to classical and the younger demigods heard hip-hop or whatever, and it was all the same sound track. No arguments. No fights to change the radio station.

Just requests to crank it up.

Dionysus went around growing refreshment stands out of the ground, and a beautiful woman walked with him arm in arm-his wife, Ariadne. Dionysus looked happy for the first time.

Nectar and ambrosia overflowed from golden fountains, and platters of mortal snack food crowded the banquet tables. Golden goblets filled with whatever drink you wanted.

Grover trotted around with a full plate of tin cans and enchiladas, and his goblet was full of double-espresso latte, which he kept muttering over like an incantation: "Pan! Pan!"

Gods kept coming over to congratulate the group, especially Luke and Percy. Thankfully, they had reduced themselves to human size, so they didn't accidentally trample partygoers under their feet.

Hermes started chatting with Vitani and Luke, who despite his anger towards his father, looked happy. Hermes looked happier than ever to be able to talk to his favourite son as well.

"Luke, you don't know how proud you've made me in the last few years." Hermes said, smiling sadly. "Of course, I was always proud of you, but I've been even prouder now."

"Dad?" Luke asked, confused by Hermes' sudden change in mood.

"I feared for you, Luke. The darkness was growing in your heart, but... your fiance saved you." Hermes said, smiling at Vitani. "I cannot thank you enough, Vitani, for what you've done for my son."

"It's my pleasure, Lord Hermes." Vitani smiled, hooking her arms with Luke's.

"I wish I could've been a better father for you." Hermes said solemnly. "But from now on, I will try my best."

"Dad..." Luke said, a smile appearing on his face.

"I should've been a bit more like Poseidon. From now on, I'll try my best to guide and support you. But not just you, your brothers and sisters as well." Hermes said. "If I can, I'll even visit on your birthdays."

"Yeah, that would be great." Luke smiled.

"No, thank you, Luke. You have every right to be mad at me, but I'll try my best from now on." Hermes said. "I won't waste this second chance that Vitani has given me. And I promise to be there for your wedding, if I can."

"Thank you, Dad." Luke grinned.

Hermes gave him a hug and gave Vitani one too.

"Now go on you two, I bet you'll want to have some time alone." Hermes winked before disappearing into the crowd.

The music the couple heard them became a romantic slow song.

"May I have this dance, my lady?" Luke asked, holding out his hand.

"Of course." Vitani grinned, putting her hand into his.

The two then slow danced for the rest of the party.


	25. Chapter 25

When they had gotten back to camp, it was the Friday before Christmas. The group waved to Peleus, the Dragon who now guarded the tree, especially the Golden Fleece. They half expected Thalia to be there, by her tree, waiting for them. But she wasn't, she was long gone with Artemis and the rest of the Hunters, off on her next adventure.

Grover went off with his satyr friends to spread the word about their strange encounter with the magic of Pan. Within the hour, the satyrs were all running around agitated, asking where the nearest espresso bar was. Vitani ended up directing them to her family's cafe, Evan's Coffee House.

Chiron had greeted the group with Hot Chocolate and toasted cheese sandwiches, having them sit with some of the other senior campers that were there—Silena Beauregard and Beckendorf. Even Clarisse was there, back from her secretive scouting mission.

It had to have been a difficult quest, because she didn't even try to beat Percy up like usual. She also had a new scar on her chin, and her dirty blond hair had been cut short and ragged.

"I got news." She mumbled uneasily. "Bad news."

"I'll fill you in later." Chiron said with forced cheerfulness. "The important thing is that you have prevailed, and you saved Annabeth!"

"Ethan is alive." Percy said suddenly.

"How do you know? That was a pretty nasty fall, Perce." Luke said.

"My dad, he told me." Percy said.

"Well." Annabeth said, shifting in her seat. "If the final battle does come when Percy is sixteen, at least we have two more years to figure something out."

Chiron's expression quickly became gloomy. "Two years may seem like a long time, but it can go by in the blink of an eye. I still hope you are not the child of the prophecy, Percy. But if you are, then the second Titan war is almost upon us. Kronos' first strike will be here."

"How do you know?" Percy asked. "Why would he care about camp?"

"Because the gods use Heroes as their tools." Luke answered bitterly. "It sounds harsh, but that's just the way it is. It's better to just accept it."

Chiron nodded. "Destroy the tools, and the gods will be crippled. Ethan's forces will come here. Mortal, demigod, monstrous... We must be prepared. Clarisse's news may give us a clue as to how they will attack, but-"

Chiron was interrupted by a knock on the door, and Nico Di Angelo came huffing into the parlour, his cheeks bright red from the cold.

He was smiling, but he looked around anxiously. "Hey! Where's... where's my sister?"

There was a dead silence. Percy stared at Chiron, not believing no one had told him yet, but then realized why. They had been waiting for them to appear, to tell Nico in person.

"Hey, Nico." Percy said, standing up from his chair. "Let's take a walk, okay? We need to talk."

* * *

Nico had run away after hearing what had happened to his sister. He had blamed Percy for her death because Percy had promised to keep an eye on Bianca, but she had died from a cursed item.

Percy had also found out that Vitani was right, Bianca and Nico were actually children of Hades, who had hidden them in the lotus casino after the oath of the big three not having children. Nico was also very powerful, being able to summon skeleton warriors. There was no way he was a child of Thanatos.

Luke, Vitani, Annabeth, and Grover had helped Percy search for Nico for hours, but even Vitani's 'point me' spell didn't work.

"We have to tell Chiron." Annabeth said.

"No." Percy said. "We can't let anyone know, I don't think anyone realizes that Nico is a-"

"A son of Hades. Vitani was right." Luke said.

"Percy, do you have any idea how serious this is? Even Hades broke the oath! This is horrible!"

"Hades didn't break the oath." Vitani said.

"What?" Annabeth asked, surprised.

"He's their father, yes, but Bianca and Nico have been out of commission for a long time." Vitani said.

"Since even before World War 2." Percy agreed.

"The Lotus Casino!" Grover said, telling Annabeth about the conversations they'd had with Bianca on the quest. "She and Nico were stuck there for decades. They were born before the oath was made."

"But how did they get out?" Annabeth protested.

"Bianca had said a lawyer had come and got them out, drove them to Westover Hall. I don't know who that could've been, or why. Maybe it's part of this Great Stirring thing. I don't think Nico understands who he is. But we can't go telling anyone. Not even Chiron. If the Olympians find out-" Percy was cut off by Annabeth.

"It might start them fighting among each other again." Annabeth said. "That's the last thing we need."

"But you can't hide things from the gods. Not forever." Grover said, looking worried.

"I don't need forever, just two more years." Percy said.

Annabeth paled. "But, Percy, this means the prophecy might not be about you. It might be about-"

"No." Percy said. "I choose the prophecy. It will be about me."

"Why are you saying that?" She cried. "You want to be responsible for the whole world?"

"I can't let Nico be in any more danger. I owe that much to his sister. I... let them both down. I'm not going to let that poor kid suffer any more."

"The poor kid who hates you and wants to see you dead." Luke sighed.

"Maybe we can find him. We could convince him that its okay, hide him someplace safe."

"I doubt that, Percy. Being in hiding sucks." Vitani sighed, thinking of her godfather and how restless he was. Not to mention her horcrux hunt.

Annabeth shivered. "If Ethan gets a hold of him-"

"He won't. I'll make sure that he's got other things to worry about. Namely me." Percy said.

After that, they had told Chiron what had happened, that Nico had run away. Unfortunately, Nico wasn't the first half-blood to disappear.

"So young." Chiron sighed, his hands on the rail of the front porch. "Alas, I hope he was eaten by monsters. Much better than being recruited into the Titans' army."

Percy was then convinced by Chiron to go back to the city to be home with his mother, to rest. Annabeth was going to San Francisco, to try and keep an eye on Mount Tam.

Before anyone could say anything else, Grover stumbled out of the Big House. "He spoke!"

"Calm down, my young satyr," Chiron said, frowning. "What is the matter?"

"I... I was playing music in the parlour," he stammered, "and drinking coffee. Lots and lots of coffee! And he spoke in my mind!"

"Who?" Annabeth demanded.

"Pan!" Grover wailed. "The Lord of the Wild himself. I heard him! I have to... I have to find a suitcase."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Percy said. "What did he say?"

Grover stared at him. "Just three words. He said, 'I await you...'"

"Oh, Grover, that's great. But before you go into a panic... Luke and I have some news." Vitani said.

"What news?" Annabeth asked.

"Luke and I decided to get married this spring, so expect invitations! We haven't decided on the exact date, but April or May sounds good." Vitani said.

"You're finally going to have the wedding? That's great!" Grover said.

"Congratulations, Luke, Vitani. I say, there has never been a wedding at Camp Half-Blood before." Chiron said, smiling at the good news.

"We also want you to marry us, Chiron. If that's okay?" Luke asked.

"It would be an honour." Chiron smiled.

"I can't wait!" Annabeth said excitedly. "The invitation will definitely come in the mail, right?"

"If not, then we'll send an Iris-message." Vitani promised before turning to Percy and Grover. "You'll come too, right, Percy, Grover?"

"Of course!" Percy said, grinning widely.

"Yeah, I wouldn't miss it!" Grover said.

"Great!" Luke grinned.

* * *

The months passed quickly and the day of the wedding, May 25th, was coming quickly. Vitani's family and friends would only be there for the wedding day, but they had said they wouldn't wouldn't miss it for the word.

Naturally, every camper was invited to attend, and most were excited as they had never been to a wedding before. Tyson was also invited along with the Hunters.

The Aphrodite, Apollo, and Demeter cabins had agreed to help decorate and set the wedding up. The Demeter cabin would make the benches, tables, and the wedding arch, while the Aphrodite cabin would be taking care of the outfits. Vitani would take care of the food, and the Satyrs along with the Apollo cabin would provide the music.

"Okay, Vitani! We've got all the men's measurements!" Silena said cheerfully, holding up a small booklet.

"I feel so violated." Travis Stoll whined.

Obviously, the Aphrodite cabin cared greatly for their appearance, and since it was a wedding, it was an opportune time to go all out. The men were not exempt from this fact, each male camper (including the Satyrs and Chiron) had been subjected to getting measurements from the Aphrodite cabin so they could get formal suits, though Chiron and the Satyrs would only be getting the top part of the suits.

"Okay, Aphrodite cabin and Ladies from the Demeter, Ares, Apollo cabins!" Vitani said. "Now that you've got the measurements, you're all going to go out and buy the suits and dresses."

Vitani rummaged through her satchel bag and pulled out a platinum credit card and gave it to Silena, who held it like it was a Holy Grail.

"What's our budget?" Silena asked, eyeing the card.

"I feel like I'm going to regret this... but your budget is 50,000 dollars." Vitani said before covering her ears when most of the girls screamed in excitement, mobbing the witch with hugs and friendly kisses on the cheek.

"We won't let you down, Vitani!" One of the Aphrodite girls squealed.

"This is going to be the best shopping spree ever!" Silena said excitedly.

"How are we going to get there?" Asked an Apollo daughter.

"Like this." Vitani said, turning around.

A sleek black limo drove up, making the group giggle and whisper in excitement. The driver's window rolled down to reveal Argus dressed in a chauffeur's uniform. The Limo doors opened to reveal the incredible interior. There was a mini bar filled with non alcoholic drinks, comfy looking leather seats, and blue and purple florescent lights on the ceiling.

"Let's go, everyone! We have a lot of work to do!" Silena said, herding everybody into the limo. "Thanks again, Vitani!"

* * *

"Luke, why are you over here? Shouldn't you be helping with the wedding plans?" Connor Stoll asked.

Luke sighed. "I did try, I suggested some budget cuts that could've been made as I didn't want Vitani to spend too much money, but one of the Aphrodite girls told me just to 'Shut up and go to hell.'"

"Harsh." Lee Fletcher from the Apollo cabin said. "But dude, never try to get in the way of a girl's shopping, especially an Aphrodite daughter."

* * *

The wedding day was finally here.

It would be taking place in a large clearing in the woods and everything was ready to go.

Chiron stood at the wedding arch with Luke, who looked even more handsome than usual in his black tuxedo. His hair was also combed neatly to the side.

Hermes had kept his promise and sat in the front row, along with Hecate.

The wedding arch and benches were made completely out of wooden vines that had ground out of the ground. They had many beautiful flowers sprouting from them, and the arch was full of blooming red roses and white lilies.

Every camper was in attendance, the Hunters had also come, but only Thalia would be attending the wedding. The other hunters would camped out in the woods nearby. Percy, Annabeth, and Grover had been able to make it as well, even Clarisse was forced into a dress to attend.

Vitani's friends and family were in attendance too. The whole Weasley family, Hermione, Luna, Neville, Andromeda and Teddy, Fleur, and Gabrielle Delacour had all been invited and came.

It was no surprise that Fleur and Gabrielle's beauty had shocked many of the male campers and put them into a slight trance because of their veela blood. The two had gotten along well with the Aphrodite cabin.

Hermione and Percy Weasley chatted happily with the Athena cabin, who were all eager to hear about the Wizarding World.

Ron and George got on with the Hermes cabin, and Bill and Charlie got on with the Ares cabin. Neville was having a grand time with the Demeter girls, talking all about the magical plants he knew.

Luna and the Satyrs had got on well, the Satyrs seemed to be fascinated by Luna's mythical(?) creatures.

When the Apollo sons and daughters along with the Satyrs started to play the wedding march, everyone quickly quieted and got to their seats.

Everyone stood and gasped when Vitani came into view, looking absolutely breathtaking. Luke had even dropped his jaw.

Her hair was done up in an elegant style that was half up and half down with a diamond lily hair clip adorning it. Her make up was done lightly, as Vitani was already very beautiful, and her wedding dress was gorgeous. It was pure white, strapless, and flared out at her hips like a ball gown. The top half of her dress sparkled in the sun in decorative patterns, as if imbedded by diamonds, and the bottom half gleamed in the sun.

Vitani's arm was hooked with Arthur Weasley's, who had happily agreed to walk her down the isle.

The witch gave a bright smile when she reached the end of the isle.

"Who gives this maiden away?" Chiron asked.

"I do, Arthur Weasley, Vitani's surrogate father." Arthur said proudly.

Chiron nodded and acceptance and Arthur gave Vitani a kiss on her cheek before sitting back down, allowing the woman to stand at the arch in front of Luke.

Vitani put the white lily bouquet aside as Luke took her hands into his.

"You look so beautiful." Luke whispered, blushing slightly.

"And you look just as handsome." Vitani smiled.

"Now, we are gathered here today with witness and celebrate the union of Luke Castellan and Vitani Potter in marriage. In the years they have been together, their love and understanding of each other has grown and matured, and now they have decided to live their lives together as husband and wife. Before I go any further, is there anyone who would object to this union?" Chiron asked.

Luke gave the deadliest looking smile at the crowd, as if daring someone to object.

Thankfully, no one objected. Even if someone had objected, the other campers who supported the marriage would be more than happy to pulverize the person until he/she agreed to stop objecting.

"Very well. Luke and Vitani, remember to treat yourselves and each other with respect, and remind yourselves often of what brought you together. Take responsibility for making the other feel safe, and give the highest priority to the tenderness, gentleness and kindness that your connection deserves. When frustration, difficulty and fear assail your relationship, as they threaten all relationships at some time or another, remember to focus on what is right between you, not just the part that seems wrong. In this way, you can survive the times when clouds drift across the face of the sun in your lives, remembering that, just because you may lose sight of it for a moment, does not mean the sun has gone away. And, if each of you takes responsibility for the quality of your life together, it will be marked by abundance and delight." Chiron said. "Bring out the box!"

A Satyr then brought out an ornate wooden box.

"Luke, Vitani, do you have your letters?" Chiron asked.

They both nodded and their best friends handed them each a letter in a white envelope with decorative golden borders and Ancient Greek script.

"Luke and Vitani have both written a love letter to each other, each stating what they love most about their partners and why they had chose to wed them. They will put the letters into this box and seal it shut. If there is anytime that a great doubt befalls their relationship with each other, they will open the box and read the letters and reaffirm their love for one another. The hope is that the box never needs to be opened." Chiron announced.

Luke and Vitani then put their letters inside and closed it shut, the box glowed before returning to normal.

"Now then, your vows if you please. Luke, you go first." Chiron said.

Luke took a deep breath, never looking away from Vitani's eyes. "I, Luke Castellan, take you, Vitani Potter, to be my Wife from this day forward. To be faithful and honest in every way, to honour the faith and trust you placed in me, to love and respect you in your successes and in your failures, to make you laugh and to be there when you cry, to care for you in sickness and in health, to softly kiss you when you are hurting, and to be your companion and your best friend, on this journey that we'll make together."

Vitani nodded happily as her eyes glistened with tears. "And I, Vitani Potter, take you, Luke Castellan, to be my Husband, my partner in life and my one true love from this day forward. I will cherish our union and love you more each day than I did the day before. I will trust you and respect you, laugh with you and cry with you, loving you faithfully through good times and bad, regardless of the obstacles we may face together. I give you my hand, my heart, and my love, from this day forward for as long as we both shall live."

Luke smiled, his eyes glistening with tears as well. In fact, many of the girls were tearing up at this point.

Chiron then cleared his throat. "Luke Castellan, do you take Vitani Potter to be your lawfully wedded wife, promising to love and cherish, through joy and sorrow, sickness and health, and whatever challenges you may face, for as long as you both shall live?"

"I do." Luke said firmly, there was not even a single hint of doubt in his voice.

"And do you, Vitani Potter, take Luke Castellan as your lawfully wedded husband, promising to love and cherish, through joy and sorrow, sickness and health, and whatever challenges you may face, for as long as you both shall live?"

"I do." Vitani said just as firmly and assuredly.

"Please bring the rings." Chiron requested.

A wood nymph came forward holding an emerald pillow with two rings sitting on top.

"You have for each other special rings – symbols that love is the most precious element in your life together. The ring has no beginning and no ending, which symbolizes that the love between you will never cease. You place these rings upon each others fingers as a visible sign of your vows this day, which will make you husband and wife." Chiron said before signalling for Luke to take one of the white golden rings.

"I, Luke Castellan, give you, Vitani Potter, this ring as an eternal symbol of my love and commitment to you." Luke said before slipping the ring onto Vitani's finger.

"And I, Vitani Potter, give you, Luke Castellan, this ring as an eternal symbol of my love and commitment to you." Vitani repeated before slipping a ring on Luke's finger.

"And now, by the power vested in me, I pronounce you as Husband and Wife. You may now kiss the bride."

Luke wasted no time and pulled Vitani into a passionate kiss. The crowd stood, cheering and clapping.

The two then separated and hooked arms with each other.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you, Mr. and Mrs. Luke and Vitani Castellan!" Chiron announced proudly and happily.

The crowd cheered loudly once more and the two of them marched down the isle together as rose petals and rice rained down upon them.

* * *

The crowd followed the two into the reception area, where everyone was going to eat dinner.

The dinner was already served, buffet style and cooked by house elves. There was lobster, king crab, bouillabaisse, mussels, chicken wings, corn on the cob, beef pot roast, cheese enchiladas, Greek pasta salad, spinach lasagna, cheese ravioli, shrimp kabobs, grilled salmon, Thai curry with fried tofu, Spring Rolls, tempura, chicken soup, vegetable soup, and a pile of peanut butter sandwiches made just for Tyson.

All dirty plates and utensils would magically clean, dry, and re-stack themselves for recycled use.

There was also a desert table with a large white four layered wedding cake decorated with chocolate roses, fondant white doves and lilies, silver candy beads, and a bride and groom figurine on top.

The desert table mainly consisted of fruit bowls of strawberries, pitted cherries, raspberries, blueberries, orange slices, honeydew melon cubes, cantaloupe melon cubes, mango cubes, and kiwi slices. The fruits were there mainly to dip in chocolate, hence to why they also had three chocolate fountains flowing. The first one had dark chocolate, the second one had milk chocolate, and the third had white chocolate.

There were also bowls of sprinkles, chocolate shavings, silver candy beads, and crushed Oreo cookies to decorate their chocolate dipped fruit if they desired it.

After the wedding speeches were done, everyone was free to eat.

Hermione, Ron, and Vitani had a great time catching up with each other, telling each other what they had been up to.

"Saving Artemis, incredible." Hermione breathed. "It's hard to believe all those Greek myths had been true all along. I've been reading up on it a lot, you know."

"She wouldn't stop reading about it!" Ron complained. "It was just book, after book, after book. And if it wasn't the books, she was on her compitu thing-"

"Computer, Ronald." Hermione sighed before brightening. "Athena's sons and daughters were fascinating to talk to! How lucky, to be born a child of the Goddess of Wisdom!"

"It's not all that cracked up to be, Hermione. Being a demigod is dangerous! Not to mention, it would be a nightmare for you, you'd have dyslexia and you wouldn't be able to ready books all the time. Not to mention, Gods aren't allowed to raise their children, an Ancient law that all Greek gods have to follow." Vitani said.

"That's true." Hermione said. "I apologize, what I said was most likely insulting."

"It's fine, Hermione." Luke said.

The conversation then steered to a more cheery topic as they ate their dinner.

After dinner, Vitani and Luke cut the cake together before they let the magical knife serve the cake slices. The cake was a light chocolate cake with strawberries and cream inside with light vanilla icing, the same kind of cake Vitani's friends had one made for her birthday.

* * *

After everyone ate, Luke and Vitani had their first dance as husband and wife.

Many others were dancing as well, and the some of the camper girls had to use force to get their selective partners onto the floor.

After Luke and Vitani danced together, they switched partners. Luke danced with Hermione and Vitani danced with Ron, then Vitani and Percy Jackson and Luke and Annabeth, after that it was Vitani and Hermes and Luke and Hecate, they kept switching throughout the evening.

"Okay everyone! It's time for Vitani to throw her wedding bouquet! They say that whoever catches the bouquet is the next one to be married!" Silena announced and all the unmarried young ladies huddled together in a group. Clarisse was forced to join and she stood the furthest at the back.

Vitani turned around and tossed her bouquet over her shoulder before looking at who caught it.

Annabeth was the one who caught it, much to her surprise. Thalia laughed and clapped her on the back while Clarisse sighed in relief.

"Now for the garter!" Travis Stoll grinned.

Vitani steadied herself against a chair when Luke knelt at her feet. He gave a wink before pushing up the dress slightly and sticking his head underneath. Vitani squeaked and blushed heavily, Luke was supposed to use his hands, but apparently he had a different idea.

The boys whistled and catcalled when Luke emerged with a black garter hanging by his teeth as he gave a smug grin.

Vitani pouted and smacked his shoulder, making him laugh.

Luke then stood and threw the garter into the crowd of unwed boys, most of the reached up to grab it, but it was Percy who had caught it.

The boys laughed and clapped Percy on the back, who blushed and looked at Annabeth, who was also blushing.

"It was fate! They're meant to be together!" Connor Stoll laughed.

The crowd cheered while Annabeth and Percy tried to deny it.

* * *

"Where are you guys going on your honeymoon?" Annabeth asked.

The party was now over and everyone had helped clean everything up.

"A private tropical island my family owns." Vitani answered.

"Of course you do." Thalia smirked.

"Well, I hope you guys have fun." Travis said with a wink.

"And try not to make us uncles too early!" Connor laughed.

"I hope you have a good time, son." Hermes said, looking happier than he ever did in a long time.

"You too, dear daughter." Hecate said.

Luke grinned while Vitani blushed.

"Well, we're off." Luke said before the two used a portkey and vanished.

 


	26. Chapter 26

When the two newly wedded couple arrived on Vitani's private island, Luke looked around in wonder.

"It's perfect!" Luke grinned. The two, hand in hand, made their way to the front door of the beach villa. Luke then opened the door before turning to Vitani. "Well, we've got to do this the old fashioned way."

Vitani raised a brow before squeaking when Luke suddenly lifted her into his arms.

"Like this. It's tradition, right?" Luke asked, grinning cheekily.

Vitani smiled, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek.

Luke then made his way in, carrying her as if she was as light as a feather.

Once they were in the middle of the living room, Vitani pulled him over to the bedroom and pushed him down.

With a snap of her fingers, most of Luke's clothes were gone except for his boxers and his hands were tied to the bedpost.

"Whoa!" Luke widened his eyes in surprise. "We haven't done this before... This is an interesting way to start our honeymoon."

**LEMON ALERT**

With another snap of Vitani's fingers, her hair fell from its elegant knots and her wedding dress was gone from her body, only dark green lingerie covered her form along with black thigh high socks.

Luke's eyes landed firmly on her body. He licked his lips in anticipation. "Well, I'm definitely not complaining. I love the thigh highs you have there."

"I thought you would." Vitani smirked before crawling onto the bed. She leaned over him and gave Luke a kiss, letting his tongue slip inside her mouth as she rubbed his chest and abs with her hands, making him groan.

She then moved to his neck and suckled a small sensitive spot behind his ear, making him groan again when she moved down his neck, leaving a trail of love bites.

As she went lower, Luke got louder.

She then licked his half hard member through his boxers, making him jerk. Vitani pulled them off and Luke's cock sprung free from its confines.

He shivered when his phallus met cold air.

Vitani licked her lips before holding Luke's hips down and giving his hard shaft one long lick from bottom to top.

"Ahh... Vitani..." Luke moaned before she swirled her tongue around the head and dipped into his slit. "So good! More!"

Luke tugged on his restraints when Vitani took the head of his cock into her mouth before taking more of him in. She kept going until all of him was inside her mouth, and she had to relax her throat to keep herself from gagging from Luke's large size.

Vitani hollowed out her cheeks and sucked, bobbing her head up and down his member.

"Vitani!" Luke cried out, moaning from the feeling of her warm soft mouth wrapped around his cock. "Mmm! I—ahhh-won't last—ohhhhh-like this!"

Vitani hummed in response and gently massaged his balls with her hand before massaging the area just beneath his scrotum.

"Ohhhh! You're so-ahhh-good!" Luke moaned as he began to trust up into her mouth.

Vitani hummed louder as she allowed him to move as he pleased.

"Ahhh! I can't—hold—MMMM—I'm-" Luke gasped and moaned before he came, tugging on his restraints hard.

Vitani swallowed his cum, making him groan weakly. She then licked his limp member clean before licking and rubbing him back to life.

"What-?" Luke asked, dazed and delirious off pleasure.

With a snap of her fingers, Luke glowed blue for a brief moment from the contraceptive spell she placed on him. She then took off her bra and panties, flinging them over the side of the bed.

He moaned once more when Vitani sank down on him. "Ohhh—ahhhhh—Yess!"

She than began to move, thrusting and impaling herself on him. She moaned and panted for breath as ground her hips onto his, creating a delicious friction that had Luke begging for more.

Luke tugged hard on his restraints as he watched Vitani ride him. "Vitani! Ahhh-hahhh-"

"Ahhh, Luke!" Vitani moaned as Luke started to thrust upwards as she came down.

"Let me go! Please!" Luke groaned. Vitani nodded, panting and snapping her fingers to free Luke from his binds.

He immediately grabbed her hips and thrust harder and thumbed her clit.

"Luke! Luke—ohhh-" Vitani moaned. "So good! You're so good!"

In response, Luke gave a breathless chuckle and grinding her harder onto him.

"AHHH!" Vitani cried out as she came. But Luke didn't stop, he just pulled out for a brief moment and put her on all fours before plunging into her again. Not letting her recover.

He leaned over her and massaged her breasts and kissed the back of her neck. He kept a rapid pace.

"Luke! Stop—that's—AHH!-too much!" Vitani moaned as she came again, but Luke never stopped, he instead shifted slightly and hit her sweet spot. "AHHHHH!"

Vitani buried her face into her pillow, trying to muffle her moans.

Luke just leaned down and whispered into her ear.

"You feel so good around me, Vitani." He groaned. "So tight—ngh—and so hot."

Luke then thrust even faster and harder into her before coming.

"Vitani..." He groaned as he spilled himself inside her. He kept thrusting until Vitani came for the third and last time before they collapsed in a heap of sweaty and tired limbs.

**LEMON END**

Once they caught their breaths, Luke pulled the covers over them.

"I love you, Vitani."

"And I love you, Luke."

The two kissed softly once more before settling down for a long rest.

* * *

During Vitani's and Luke's honeymoon, they had not only broke in every room in the villa on the island, but they had also explored it. They had a great time scuba diving to the nearby reefs, making the biggest sand castle they could manage on the beach, exploring the forest on the island, eating the wild fruit that grew on the island, fishing, jumping off waterfalls and swimming, and basically spending all their time together.

* * *

The first thing that Percy had done since arriving to camp was attacking the massive Hellhound that was Mrs. O'Leary.

"Hey Percy, welcome back." Luke grinned.

"Hey, Luke, Vitani, how as your honeymoon?" Percy asked.

"Great! But it seemed to pass by so quickly." Vitani said wistfully.

Percy felt a tiny pang of jealousy for the obviously happy newly wed couple. He had never told anyone, but Vitani had been his first crush when he came to camp despite already dating Luke at that point. She was beautiful, patient, and kind to him. It was no wonder that Percy had grown romantic feelings for the daughter of Hecate, never mind that she was 7 years his senior. He knew that deep down, he still liked Vitani and wished he was in Luke's place. But he knew that Luke was much more suited for her than he was. He didn't like this fact, but he acknowledged it and accepted it. Although recently, he had been growing feelings for a certain daughter of Athena, though he was slightly oblivious to this fact.

Their conversation was interrupted when one of the wooden crates the size of picnic tables were stacked nearby, rattled harshly.

"Uh, Quintus, what's in the boxes?" Percy asked.

"A little surprise." Quintus said. "Training activity for tomorrow night. You'll love it."

The boxes read:

**TRIPLE G RANCH**

**FRAGILE**

**THIS END UP**

**OPEN WITH CARE. TRIPLE G RANCH IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR PROPERTY DAMAGE, MAIMING, OR EXCRUCIATINGLY PAINFUL DEATHS.**

"Uh... okay..." Percy said, unsure about the 'excruciatingly painful death' part.

Quintus then distracted his Hellhound with a bronze shield Frisbee. "You young ones need more challenges. They didn't have camps like this when I was a boy."

Luke looked excited at the prospect of new challenges.

"You—you're a half-blood?" Percy asked, surprised.

Quintus chuckled. "Some of us  _do_ survive into adulthood, you know. Take your friends, Luke and Vitani, here for example. Not all of us are the subjects of terrible prophecies."

Vitani muttered under her breath at the thought of her own prophecy.

"You know about my prophecy?"

"I've heard a few things."

"Percy there you are!" Chiron said as he clip-clopped into the arena. "I see you've met our new instructor."

Chiron's tone was light, but there was an uneasy look in his eyes. Vitani and Luke gained uneasy looks as well, they were just as suspicious of Quintus as Chiron.

"Quintus, do you mind if I borrowed these three?"

"Not at all, Master Chiron."

"No need to call me 'Master'." Chiron said, though he sounded a bit pleased at the title. "Come you three, we have much to discuss."

* * *

"Quintus seemed kind of-"

"Mysterious? Hard to read?" Chiron suggested.

"Yeah." Percy nodded.

Chiron nodded. "A very qualified half-blood. Excellent swordsman, I just wish I understood…"

Chiron paused for a moment before starting to speak again.

"First things first, Percy. Annabeth told me you met some  _empousai_."

Vitani let out a gasp while Luke massaged her shoulders reassuringly.

"Yeah." Percy said before telling them about the fight at Goode, and how Kelli had exploded into flames.

"Mm." Chiron said. "The more powerful ones can do that. She did not die, Percy. She simply escaped. It is not good that the she-demons are stirring."

"You fought empousai? How—why—but-" Vitani said horrified.

"Oh dear..." Chiron said, realizing what Vitani was horrified about.

"What is it?" Percy asked.

"Percy, empousai, like me, are also daughters of Hecate, my mother." Vitani said sullenly. "I don't understand why they would attack you unless... my mother had ordered them too. They wouldn't just appear at a high school like that."

"But I met your mother! She was nice!" Percy cried.

"I know! That's why I'm so confused!" Vitani wailed.

"Vitani, it'll be alright, don't forget that Polyphemus was a son of Poseidon, but attacked Percy anyways. Perhaps they're stray empousai, maybe they attacked Percy on the order of someone else." Luke said, hugging his wife.

"Kronos and Ethan you mean." Percy said.

"Yeah..." Luke nodded.

"It is amazing you survived. Their powers of deception…almost any male hero would've fallen under their spell and been devoured." Chiron said.

"I would've been, except for Rachel." Percy admitted.

Chiron nodded. "Ironic to be saved by a mortal, yet we owe her a debt. What the  _empousa_ said about an attack on camp—we must speak of this further. But for now, come, we should get to the woods. Grover will want you there."

"Where?"

"At his formal hearing." Chiron said grimly. "The Council of Cloven Elders is meeting now to decide his fate."

He then pulled Percy and Vitani onto his back while Luke's shoes sprouted wings to follow. They plunged through the woods, through a tunnel of old willow trees, past a little waterfall, and into a glade blanketed with wildflowers.

A bunch of satyrs were sitting in a circle in the grass. Grover stood in the middle, facing three really old, really fat satyrs who sat on topiary thrones shaped out of rose bushes, the Council of Cloven Elders.

Grover was telling them a story. He twisted the bottom of his T-shirt, shifting nervously on his goat hooves. He hadn't changed much since last winter, satyrs aged half as fast as humans. His acne had flared up and his horns had gotten a little bigger so they just stuck out over his curly hair.

Standing off to one side of the circle were Annabeth, Juniper, and Clarisse. Chiron dropped Percy and Vitani next to them while a Luke landed next to Vitani.

Clarisse's stringy brown hair was tied back with a camouflage bandanna.

Annabeth had her arm around Juniper, who looked like she'd been crying. She was small—petite—with wispy hair the color of amber and a pretty, elfish face. She wore a green chiton and laced sandals, and she was dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief.

"It's going terribly." Juniper sniffled.

"No, no." Annabeth patted her shoulders. "He'll be fine, Juniper."

Annabeth looked at Percy and mouthed the words ' _Grover's girlfriend'_.

"I know, surprising isn't it?" Vitani whispered to Percy. "Surprised us too when we came back."

Juniper's ears were slightly pointed. Her eyes, instead of being red from crying, were tinged green, the color of chlorophyll. She was a tree nymph— a dryad.

"Master Underwood!" The council member on the right shouted, cutting off whatever Grover was trying to say. "Do you seriously expect us to believe this?"

"B-but Silenus." Grover stammered. "It's the truth!"

The Council Satyr, Silenus, turned to his colleagues and muttered something. Chiron cantered up to the front and stood next to them, as an honorary member of the council. The elders didn't look very impressive. They reminded many of the goats in a petting zoo—huge bellies, sleepy expressions, and glazed eyes that couldn't see past the next handful of goat chow.

Silenus tugged his yellow polo shirt over his belly and adjusted himself on his rosebush throne. "Master Underwood, for six months— _six months_ — we have been hearing these scandalous claims that you heard the wild god Pan speak."

"But I did!"

"Impudence!" Said the elder on the left.

"Now, Maron." Chiron said. "Patience."

"Patience, indeed!" Maron said. "I've had it up to my horns with this nonsense. As if the wild god would speak to…to  _him_."

Juniper looked like she wanted to charge the old satyr and beat him up, but Annabeth and Clarisse held her back.

"Wrong fight, girlie." Clarisse muttered. "Wait."

"For six months," Silenus continued, "we have indulged you, Master Underwood. We let you travel. We allowed you to keep your searcher's license. We waited for you to bring proof of your preposterous claim. And what have you found in six months of travel?"

"I just need more time." Grover pleaded.

"Nothing!" the elder in the middle chimed in. "You have found nothing."

Vitani clenched her teeth. "I bet it was more than these fat arses had ever found in their entire pathetic lives. If they had even went out searching for Pan anyways."

"But, Leneus—"

Silenus raised his hand. Chiron leaned in and said something to the satyrs.

The satyrs didn't look happy. They muttered and argued among themselves, but Chiron said something else, and Silenus sighed. He nodded reluctantly.

"Master Underwood," Silenus announced, "we will give you one more chance."

Grover brightened. "Thank you!"

"One more week."

"What? But sir! That's impossible!"

"One more week, Master Underwood. And then, if you cannot prove your claims, it will be time for you to pursue another career. Something to suit your dramatic talents. Puppet theatre, perhaps. Or tap dancing."

"This is ridiculous, Grover had found more on Pan than any other Satyr, and he came back alive!" Vitani sneered quietly.

"Love, they're just impatient. They want results, results they can't get on their own." Luke said, trying to calm his wife down.

"It's because they're incompetent, that's why." Vitani huffed.

"But sir, I—I can't lose my searcher's license. My whole life—"

"This meeting of the council is adjourned," Silenus said. "And now let us enjoy our noonday meal!"

The old satyr clapped his hands, and a bunch of nymphs melted out of the trees with platters of vegetables, fruits, tin cans, and other goat delicacies.

The circle of satyrs broke and charged the food. Grover walked dejectedly toward his friends. His faded blue T-shirt had a picture of a satyr on it. It read GOT HOOVES?

"Hi, Percy, Vitani, Luke." He said, so depressed he didn't offer a handshake or a hug like he usually did. "That went well, huh?"

"Those old goats!" Juniper said. "Oh, Grover, they don't know how hard you've tried!"

"There is another option." Clarisse said darkly.

"No. No." Juniper shook her head. "Grover, I won't let you."

His face was ashen. "I—I'll have to think about it. But we don't even know where to look."

"What are you talking about?" Percy asked.

In the distance, a conch horn sounded.

Annabeth pursed her lips. "I'll fill you in later, Percy. We'd better get back to our cabins. Inspection is starting."

Vitani gasped. "Oh no! It's my turn to inspect the cabins today!"

She then wasted no time in pulling out her firebolt broom before zooming away.

* * *

Every afternoon, one of the senior counsellors came around with a papyrus scroll checklist. Best cabin got first shower hour, which meant hot water guaranteed. Worst cabin got kitchen patrol after dinner.

Thankfully, though Vitani was a bit strict, she was fair. She was one of the more favoured inspectors along with Luke.

The Demeter kids were sweeping out theirs and making fresh flowers grow in their window boxes.

The guys in the Hermes cabin were scrambling around in a panic, stashing dirty laundry under their beds and accusing each other of taking stuff. Luke had to help out his brothers and sisters as well, despite being a resident at the Hecate cabin because of Vitani, he was still the Cabin counsellor for Cabin 11. No one protested to this fact as Luke did all of his counsellor duties perfectly. That, and he was well liked among his cabin.

Over at the Aphrodite cabin, Silena Beauregard was just coming out, looking proud. The Aphrodite cabin under her were neat freaks. She liked things to be pretty and perfect.

* * *

"Okay Aphrodite cabin, show me what you've got." Vitani said, holding up a clipboard.

Silena smiled and let the witch in.

Vitani looked around closely but nodded in the end. "Five out of five like usual, good work, everyone."

The whole cabin gave a sigh of relief.

Vitani went to the Hephaestus cabin next. They had gotten a 4/5 because of a few stray tools lying on the floor.

Athena cabin: 4/5

Demeter cabin: 4/5

Apollo cabin: 3/5

Ares cabin: 2/5

Hermes cabin: 3/5

Dionysus cabin: 4/5

Hecate cabin: 5/5

Vitani then headed to the Poseidon cabin, knocking once before Percy let her in.

The floor was swept. The bunk beds were made. The saltwater fountain in the corner had been freshly scrubbed so the coral gleamed. On the windowsills, set out were water-filled vases with sea anemones and strange glowing plants from the bottom of the ocean; more beautiful than any flower bouquets the Demeter kids could whip up.

"It's perfect!" Vitani said happily and amazed, making Percy sigh with great relief. "Five out of five!"

She then turned to Tyson.

"Tyson, the cabin looks…amazing!"

He beamed. "See the fish ponies? I put them on the ceiling!"

A herd of miniature bronze hippocampi hung on wires from the ceiling, so it looked like they were swimming through the air.

"Oh, they're wonderful, Tyson. Good work!" Vitani praised, making the Cyclops blush in embarrassment.

"Hey! What makes you think I didn't help?" Percy whined.

Vitani lifted a brow. "Percy, you're not the neatest person I know. Not to mention, you probably had just got here. Without Tyson here, I'm guessing that you'd be in last place."

"Yeah, you're right." Percy slumped.

"Well, that concludes the inspection." Vitani said before walking out.

* * *

"Hey there, Darlin'." Luke smiled as Vitani approached the Hermes cabin. He gave her a hug and kissed her forehead.

"Hey Vitani, just give it to us straight, are we in last for the inspection?" Travis asked, prepared for the worst.

Vitani giggled. "No, the Ares cabin is."

Nearly the whole cabin sighed in relief.

"If you just keep your cabin clean, then you wouldn't have this nerve wrecking problem all the time." Vitani said.

"C'mon, Vitani, we're guys. We're not the neatest people in the world!" Connor complained.

"Luke is. He always cleans up after himself." Vitani said, smiling proudly at her husband.

"That's cause he's whipped." Travis muttered before he was whacked on the head. "Ow! But it's true!"

Luke rolled his eyes.

* * *

The next morning, there was a lot of excitement at breakfast.

Around three in the morning an Aethiopian drakon had been spotted at the borders of camp.

The magical boundaries had kept the monster out, but it prowled the hills, looking for weak spots in the camp's defences, and it didn't seem anxious to go away until Lee Fletcher from Apollo's cabin led a couple of his siblings in pursuit. After a few dozen arrows lodged in the chinks of the drakon's armour, it got the message and withdrew.

"It's still out there." Lee warned everyone during announcements. "Twenty arrows in its hide, and we just made it mad. The thing was thirty feet long and bright green. And it's eyes—" he shuddered.

"You did well, Lee." Chiron patted him on the shoulder. "Everyone stay alert, but stay calm. This has happened before."

"Aye," Quintus said from the head table. "And it will happen again. More and more frequently."

The campers murmured among themselves.

Everyone knew the rumors: Ethan and his army of monsters were planning an invasion of the camp. Most of them expected it to happen this summer, but no one knew how or when. It didn't help that their attendance was down. They only had about 80 campers now, 3 years ago there used to be about a hundred.

Some had joined Ethan. Some had just disappeared.

"This is a good reason for new war games." Quintus continued, a glint in his eyes. "We'll see how you all do with that tonight."

"Yes…" Chiron said. "Well, enough announcements. Let us bless this meal and eat." He raised his goblet. "To the gods."

Everyone all raised their glasses and repeated the blessing.


	27. Chapter 27

t wasn't long until Annabeth, Grover, and Percy joined Vitani and Luke at the Hecate table, brought by Chiron.

Everyone threw glances at the group, but no one said anything. Luke was excused from sitting at a different table because he was married to Vitani, Grover would've been excused because he was a Satyr, but Percy and Annabeth both got looks.

Vitani knew it was important and put out a spell to keep others from eavesdropping.

"Look." Annabeth said. "Grover is in trouble. There's only one way we can figure to help him. It's the Labyrinth. That's what Clarisse and I have been investigating."

"You mean the maze where they kept the Minotaur, back in the old days?" Percy asked.

"Exactly." Annabeth said.

"So…it's not under the king's palace in Crete anymore." Percy guessed. "The Labyrinth is under some building in America."

"Under a building? Please, Percy. The Labyrinth is  _huge_. It wouldn't fit under a single city, much less a single building."

"So…is the Labyrinth part of the Underworld?"

"No." Annabeth frowned. "Well, there may be passages from the Labyrinth down  _into_ the Underworld. I'm not sure. But the Underworld is way, way down. The Labyrinth is right under the surface of the mortal world, kind of like a second skin. It's been growing for thousands of years, lacing its way under Western cities, connecting everything together underground. You can get just about anywhere through the Labyrinth."

"Assuming you know how to navigate it, if you don't, best chances are that you'd get lost." Luke said.

Grover nodded. "And die a horrible death."

"Grover, there has to be a way." Annabeth said. "Clarisse lived."

"Barely!" Grover said. "And the other guy—"

"He was driven insane. He didn't die."

"That's not much better, Annabeth." Vitani groaned.

"And it doesn't make me feel better either." Grover said, his lower lip quivered.

"Whoa." Percy said. "Back up, what's this about Clarisse and a crazy guy?"

Annabeth glanced over at the Ares table for a moment, catching Clarisse's eye before turning back.

"Last year, Clarisse went on a mission for Chiron." Annabeth said.

"Yeah, it was a secret one." Luke nodded.

"It was secret," Annabeth agreed, "because she found Chris Rodriguez."

"What? My brother?" Luke asked. He had seen his cabin's register, Chris had been claimed by Hermes sometime while Luke was on his honeymoon with Vitani.

"Yeah." Annabeth said. "Last summer he just appeared in Phoenix, Arizona, near Clarisse's mom's house."

"What do you mean he just appeared?" Vitani asked.

"He was wandering around the desert, in a hundred and twenty degrees, in full Greek armour, babbling about string." Annabeth answered.

"String." Percy repeated.

"He'd been driven completely insane. Clarisse brought him back to her mom's house so the mortals wouldn't institutionalize him. She tried to nurse him back to health. Chiron came out and interviewed him, but it wasn't much good. The only thing they got out of him is that Ethan's men have been exploring the Labyrinth."

"Okay." Percy asked. "Why were they exploring the Labyrinth?"

Vitani had a suspicion of the reason why, but she didn't voice it. Luke looked at her curiously.

"We weren't sure," Annabeth said. "That's why Clarisse went on a scouting expedition. Chiron kept things hushed up because he didn't want anyone panicking. He got me involved because…well, the Labyrinth has always been one of my favourite subjects. The architecture involved—"

Her expression turned a little dreamy.

"The builder, Daedalus, was a genius. But the point is, the Labyrinth has entrances everywhere. If Ethan could figure out how to navigate it, he could move his army around with incredible speed."

"Except it's a maze, right?"

"Full of horrible traps." Grover agreed, chewing on his fork. "Dead ends. Illusions. Psychotic goat-killing monsters."

"But not if you had Ariadne's string." Annabeth said. "In the old days, Ariadne's string guided Theseus out of the maze. It was a navigation instrument of some kind, invented by Daedalus. And Chris Rodriguez was mumbling about string."

"So Ethan is trying to fine Ariadne's string. But why?" Percy asked.

"Most likely to invade the camp." Vitani said.

Annabeth shook her head. "That doesn't make sense! The closest entrances Clarisse found were in Manhattan, which wouldn't help Ethan get past our borders."

"But entrances could pop up anywhere at anytime, right? The labyrinth is set to trick people, constantly changing, it's possible that there's an entrance inside the camp that Ethan knows about." Luke said.

"How come we hadn't found it yet, then?" Annabeth argued.

"Well, it would be well hidden, correct?" Vitani asked. "It could be anywhere, behind a rock or tree, maybe even in a ditch nearby. It could be hiding in plain sight and nobody but Ethan noticed."

"It's possible." Annabeth conceded. "But that's not the only thing. The Labyrinth might be the key to Grover's problem."

"You think Pan is underground?" Percy asked.

"That would explain why he's been impossible to find." Luke said.

Grover shuddered. "Satyrs hate going underground. No searcher would ever try going in  _that_ place. No flowers. No sunshine. No coffee shops!"

"But," Annabeth said, "the Labyrinth can lead you almost anywhere. It reads your thoughts. It was designed to fool you, trick you and kill you; but if you can make the Labyrinth work _for_ you—"

 _'Would Occlumency work? I've been working on my mind barriers ever since I had come to camp.'_ Vitani thought.

"It could lead you to the wild god." Percy said.

"I can't do it." Grover hugged his stomach. "Just thinking about it makes me want to throw up my silverware."

"Grover, it may be your last chance." Annabeth said. "The council is serious.  _One_ week or you learn to tap dance!"

Quintus then cleared his throat, not wanting to make a scene, but Percy and Annabeth were pushing by sitting at Vitani's table for so long.

"We'll talk later." Annabeth said, grabbing Percy. "Convince him, will you?"

After Percy and Annabeth left, Grover buried his head in his hands. "I can't do it, you guys. My searcher's license. Pan. I'm going to lose it all. I'll have to start a puppet theatre."

"Don't say that, Grover. We'll figure something out." Vitani said.

"C'mon, you guys, you're a couple of my closest friends. You've seen me underground, well, Luke and Percy did, in that Cyclops' cave. Do you really think I could..."

"Yes, you could. Grover, you're the bravest Satyr we know, and you care about finding Pan more than anyone." Luke said.

"Thanks, guys, but I have to go. Juniper is waiting for me. It's a good thing that she finds cowards attractive." Grover said before getting up and leaving.

"Poor guy. He can't keep talking himself down like that." Vitani said.

"What were you thinking about?" Luke asked.

"Hmm?"

"When you think, you furrow your brow a bit." Luke said. "So, what were you thinking about?"

"Occlumency." Vitani answered.

"Occlu-what?"

"Occlumency. The art of shielding one's mind from intrusion. I've been practising it ever since I came to camp and I've finally got the hang of it last year. If the Labyrinth can indeed read one's mind, I wonder if it can read mine as well."

"Interesting. Do you think I could learn as well?" Luke asked.

"I'm not sure, but it certainly wouldn't hurt to try." Vitani said.

* * *

The night after dinner, Quintus had everyone suit up in combat armour like they would went they played Capture the Flag. However, the mood among the campers was a lot more serious. Sometime during the day the crates in the arena had disappeared, and many had a feeling that whatever was in them had been released into the woods.

"Right." Quintus said, standing on the head dining table. "Gather 'round."

He was dressed in black leather and bronze. In the torchlight, his grey hair made him look like a ghost. Mrs. O'Leary bounded happily around him, foraging for dinner scraps.

"You will be in teams of two." Quintus announced. When everybody started talking and trying to grab their friends, he yelled: "Which have already been chosen!"

"AWWWWWWW!" Everyone complained.

"Your goal is simple: collect the gold laurels without dying. The wreath is wrapped in a silk package, tied to the back of one of the monsters. There are six monsters. Each has a silk package. Only one holds the laurels. You must find the wreath before the other teams. And, of course…you will have to slay the monster to get it, and stay alive."

The crowd started murmuring excitedly. The task sounded pretty straightforward. They had all slain monsters before, that's what they were trained for. Luke especially was looking excited.

"I will now announce your partners." Quintus said. "There will be no trading. No switching. No complaining."

Quintus then listed off names. "Percy Jackson and Annabeth Chase."

Percy grinned at Annabeth, who straightened his straps for him.

"Grover Underwood with Tyson."

"What? B-But" Grover said, just about to jump out of his goat fur.

"No, no." Tyson whimpered. "Must be a mistake. Goat boy-"

"No complaining!" Quintus ordered, giving out more teams before giving out the last team. "Luke Castellan and Vitani Castellan."

Vitani and Luke smiled at each other before grinning widely, making a couple campers back up in fear.

* * *

As soon as the game started, Vitani and Luke immediately headed into the woods, tracking some prints that had been made by scuttling with a lot of legs.

It didn't take long to find the so called monster, a large ten foot long scorpion with a red package tied to it's back.

"This? This is too easy." Vitani sighed, stunning the creature with an overpowered stunning spell. The scorpion slumped and Luke cut off its tail before retrieving the package.

"Alright then, why don't I try the next one? Only step in if I'm about to lose." Luke said.

"Oh, fine." Vitani shrugged.

They headed up to Zeus' fist next, where three scorpions were surrounding Percy and Annabeth, well, until they both tumbled behind a rock anyways.

Luke made quick work of two of them, getting them by surprise from behind, before he fought with the third one. He dodged its stinger and pincers expertly before cutting off the trail, making it disintegrate.

Vitani then looked where Percy and Annabeth had been just before. Seeing the crack between the two large boulders, she squeezed between them before falling with a loud squeak.

"Vitani? Vitani!" Luke called worriedly, he dropped the packages and looked into the crack, he squeezed in and fell in as well.

He ended up falling on Percy.

"Ow!"

"Sorry, Perce."

"It's fine..."

"Lumos." Vitani murmured and the tip of her wand lit up brightly, making Annabeth sigh in relief.

"What? A tunnel?" Percy asked.

"No, corridor." Luke said, looking down into the darkness. "I think we just found an entrance to the Labyrinth. An invasion route straight into the heart of the camp."

"We have to get out of here. Take two steps back." Annabeth advised.

Everyone stepped back together, and Luke wouldn't let go of Vitani.

"Okay, help me examine the walls."

"For what?" Percy said.

"The mark of Daedalus. A delta symbol."

"Delta?"

"A triangle, Seaweed Brain."

"Oh."

"Found it!" Vitani said, looking at a tiny fissure in the wall.

Annabeth came over and pressed it, making it glow blue.

The roof slid open and they all saw the night sky, stars blazing. It was a lot darker than it should have been. Metal ladders appeared in the side of the wall, leading up, and everyone could hear the other campers yelling their names.

"Percy! Annabeth! Vitani! Luke!" Tyson bellowed the loudest.

They all looked at each other before climbing up.

They made their way around the rocks and ran into Clarisse and a bunch of other campers carrying torches.

"Where have you guys been?" Clarisse demanded. "We've been looking forever!"

"But we were only gone for a few minutes." Percy frowned.

Chiron trotted up, followed by Tyson and Grover.

"Percy! Are you okay?" Tyson asked.

"We're fine. We fell into a hole." Percy replied.

The campers looked at Percy skeptically before looking at Luke, Vitani, and Annabeth.

"Honest!" Percy insisted. "There were three scorpions after us, so we ran and hid in the rocks. Vitani and Luke fell in about 20 seconds after, but we were only gone a minute or so."

"You've been missing for almost and hour." Chiron said. "The game is over."

"Yeah, we would've won but a Cyclops sat on me." Grover muttered.

"Was an accident!" Tyson protested, and then he sneezed.

Clarisse was wearing the gold laurels, but she didn't even brag about winning them, which wasn't like her. "A hole?" she said suspiciously.

Annabeth took a deep breath. She looked around at the other campers.

"Chiron…maybe we should talk about this at the Big House."

Clarisse gasped. "You found it, didn't you?"

Annabeth bit her lip. "I—Yeah. Yeah, we did."

* * *

The next morning, Chiron had called a war council.

Chiron and Quintus stood at the front by the weapon racks. Clarisse and Annabeth sat next to each other and led the briefing. Vitani and Luke sat next to them. Tyson and Grover sat as far away from each other as possible. Also present around the table:

Juniper the tree nymph, Silena Beauregard, Beckendorf, Lee Fletcher, even Argus, their hundred-eyed security chief.

Argus hardly ever showed up unless something really major was going on. The whole time Annabeth spoke, he kept his hundred blue eyes trained on her so hard his whole body turned bloodshot.

"Ethan must have known about the Labyrinth entrance," Annabeth said. "He knew just about everything about camp."

Juniper cleared her throat. "That's what I was trying to tell you last night. The cave entrance has been there a long time. Ethan used to use it."

Silena Beauregard frowned. "You knew about the Labyrinth entrance, and you didn't say anything?"

Juniper's face turned green.

"I didn't know it was important. Just a cave. I don't like yucky old caves."

"She has good taste." Grover said.

"I wouldn't have paid any attention except…well, it was Ethan. He was kind of cute." She blushed a little greener.

Grover huffed. "Forget what I said about good taste."

"Interesting," Quintus polished his sword as he spoke. "And you believe this young man, Ethan, would dare use the Labyrinth as an invasion route?"

"Definitely," Clarisse said. "If he could get an army of monsters inside Camp Half-Blood, just pop up in the middle of the woods without having to worry about our magical boundaries, we wouldn't stand a chance. He could wipe us out easy. He must've been planning this for months."

"He's been sending scouts into the maze." Annabeth said. "We know because…because we found one."

"Chris Rodriguez." Chiron said. He gave Quintus a meaningful look.

"Ah," Quintus said. "The one in the…Yes, I understand."

"The one in the what?" Percy asked.

Clarisse glared at him.

"The point is, Ethan has been looking for a way to navigate the maze. He's searching for Daedalus' workshop."

"The guy who created the maze." Luke said.

"Yes." Annabeth said. "The greatest architect, the greatest inventor of all time. If the legends are true, his workshop is in the centre of the Labyrinth. He's the only one who knew how to navigate the maze perfectly. If Ethan managed to find the workshop and convince Daedalus to help him, Ethan wouldn't have to fumble around searching for paths, or risk losing his army in the maze's traps. He could navigate anywhere he wanted—quickly and safely. First to Camp Half-Blood to wipe us out. Then…to Olympus."

The arena was silent except for Mrs. O'Leary's toy yak getting disemboweled:  _SQUEAK! SQUEAK!_

Finally Beckendorf put his huge hands on the table. "Back up a sec, Annabeth, you said 'convince Daedalus'? Isn't Daedalus dead?"

Quintus grunted. "I would hope so. He lived, what, three thousand years ago? And even if he were alive, don't the old stories say he fled from the Labyrinth?"

Chiron clopped restlessly on his hooves. "That's the problem, my dear Quintus. No one knows. There are rumors…well, there are  _many_ disturbing rumors about Daedalus, but one is that he disappeared back into the Labyrinth toward the end of his life. He might still be there."

Vitani grimaced, she knew a couple of ways for one to live longer than they should. If Daedalus was as much as a genius as Annabeth had said, then he definitely could've figured out a way to cheat death.

"We need to go in." Annabeth announced. "We have to find the workshop before Ethan does. If Daedalus is alive, we convince him to help us, not Ethan. If Ariadne's string still exists, we make sure it never falls into Ethan's hands."

"Wait a second." Percy said. "If we're worried about an attack, why not just blow up the entrance? Seal the tunnel?"

"Great idea!" Grover said. "I'll get the dynamite!"

"It's not so easy, stupid." Clarisse growled. "We tried that at the entrance we found in Phoenix. It didn't go well."

Annabeth nodded. "The Labyrinth is magical architecture, Percy. It would take huge power to seal even one of its entrances. In Phoenix, Clarisse demolished a whole building with a wrecking ball, and the maze entrance just shifted a few feet. The best we can do is prevent Ethan from learning to navigate the Labyrinth."

"Hold up, Vitani is a powerful witch herself, and she knows more about magic than anyone in this camp. Why not have her seal it? She did make that amazing barrier when the tree was poisoned, after all." Beckendorf suggested.

Everyone murmured in agreement while Vitani smiled sheepishly.

"We could fight too." Lee Fletcher said. "We know where the entrance is now. We can set up a defensive line and wait for them. If an army tries to come through, they'll find us waiting with our bows."

"We will certainly set up defences, and Vitani can seal the entrance, or at least create a defensive barrier just in case." Chiron agreed. "But I fear Clarisse is right. The magical borders have kept this camp safe for hundreds of years. If Ethan manages to get a large army of monsters into the centre of camp, bypassing our boundaries…we may not have the strength to defeat them."

Nobody looked real happy about that news. Chiron usually tried to be upbeat and optimistic. If he was predicting they couldn't hold off an attack, that wasn't good.

"We have to get to Daedalus's workshop first." Annabeth insisted. "Find Ariadne's string and prevent Ethan from using it."

"But if nobody can navigate in there." Percy said. "What chance do we have?"

"I've been studying architecture for years." She said. "I know Daedalus' Labyrinth better than anybody."

"From reading about it."

"Well, yes."

"That's not enough."

"It has to be!"

"It isn't!"

"I'm afraid Percy is right, Annabeth. If the Labyrinth is constantly changing, it'll be next to impossible to navigate it just by reading about it, even if you know more than anyone else at this camp." Vitani said.

"Are you going to help me or not?" Annabeth snapped.

"Don't snap at my wife like that Annabeth." Luke frowned, coming to his wife's defence.

Mrs. O'Leary's squeaky yak went  _EEK!_ As she ripped off its pink rubber head.

Chiron cleared his throat. "First things first. We need a quest. Someone must enter the Labyrinth, find the workshop of Daedalus, and prevent Ethan from using the maze to invade this camp."

"We all know who should lead this," Clarisse said. "Annabeth."

There was a murmur of agreement. Even though Annabeth had been waiting a long time to be able to lead a quest of her own, she still looked uncomfortable.

"You've done as much as I have, Clarisse." She said. "You should go, too."

Clarisse shook her head. "I'm not going back in there. Not ever."

She then walked out of the Arena.

"Very well," Chiron turned to Annabeth. "My dear, it's your time to visit the Oracle. Assuming you return to us in one piece, we shall discuss what to do next."


	28. Chapter 28

"Percy, Luke, Vitani." Juniper whispered.

She was standing in the bushes.

"You need to know, Ethan wasn't the only one I saw around that cave."

"What do you mean, Juniper?" Luke asked.

She blushed green slightly before turning to the arena. "I was trying to say something, but he was right there."

"Who?" Percy asked.

"The sword master." She replied. "He was poking around the rocks."

"Quintus? When?" Vitani asked.

"I don't know, I don't pay attention to time. Maybe a week ago, when he first showed up."

"What was he doing? Did he go in?" Percy asked.

"I—I'm not sure. He's creepy, Percy. I didn't even see him come into the glade. Suddenly he was just  _there_. You have to tell Grover it's too dangerous—"

"Juniper?" Grover called from inside the arena. "Where'd you go?"

Juniper sighed. "I'd better go in. Just remember what I said. Don't trust that man!"

She then ran into the arena.

"We should tell Annabeth." Luke said.

When the three walked into the house, they heard sobbing from below them.

Percy had gone to check it out, but appeared a moment later, looking a bit shaken.

"What's wrong, Percy?" Vitani asked.

"It was Chris, no wonder Clarisse didn't want to go back into the Labyrinth." Percy said.

"What did Chris do?" Luke asked.

"He said something about a thousand skulls. The earth keeps healing him, and the how the son of Poseidon is horrible." Percy answered.

"I don't think he meant you, Percy. Remember, Poseidon is thousands of years old, he has a ton of children. Take the Cyclops for example. Perhaps one of Poseidon's different sons is in that Labyrinth." Vitani suggested.

Percy nodded gratefully. "Yeah, you're right. I'm not my dad's only son."

"My dear, you made it." Chiron said.

Annabeth looked at Percy first, before turning to Quintus. "I got the prophecy. I will lead the quest to find Daedalus's workshop."

No one cheered, even though everyone in the war council liked Annabeth, this quest just seemed insanely dangerous.

"What did the prophecy say exactly my dear? The wording is important." Chiron said.

Annabeth took a deep breath. "I, ah…well, it said,  _you shall delve in the darkness of the endless maze_..."

Everyone waited.

" _The dead, the traitor, and the lost one raise."_

Grover perked up. "The lost one! That must mean Pan! That's great!"

"With the dead and the traitor, not so great." Percy added.

"And?" Chiron asked. "What is the rest?"

" _You shall rise or fall by the ghost king's hand."_  Annabeth said. " _The child of Athena's final stand."_

Everyone looked around uncomfortably. Annabeth was a daughter of Athena, and a final stand didn't sound good.

"Hey… we shouldn't jump to conclusions." Silena said. "Annabeth isn't the only child of Athena, right?"

"But who's this ghost king?" Beckendorf asked.

No one answered.

"Are there more lines?" Chiron asked. "The prophecy does not sound complete."

Annabeth hesitated before reciting the last few lines. " _Destroy with a hero's final breath, a_ _nd lose a foe to a living death."_

"Living death? What could that mean? How can the dead, live?" Silena asked.

Vitani's eyes darkened and a shadow seemed to come over her face, something everyone noticed.

"Do you have an idea what the living death part means, Vitani?" Luke asked.

"Possession." Vitani answered.

"What?" Percy asked.

"Someone, a foe, or most likely Ethan, is going to be possessed. When a body gets possessed by something else, depending on the type of possession, the parasite would attach itself to the host's life force in attempt to gain a body of it's own. Then the host would become the living dead, because if the parasite is ever removed from the host, the host would die." Vitani answered.

There was a silence before Annabeth spoke up.

"We'll have to go in. I'll find the workshop and stop Ethan. And... I need help."

"I'm in!" Percy said.

"You can count on us too, Annabeth." Vitani said with Luke nodding in agreement.

"Grover, you too? The wild god is waiting." Annabeth said.

Grover seemed to forget how much he hated the underground. The line about the 'lost one' had completely energized him. "I'll pack extra recyclables for snacks!"

"And Tyson, I'll need you too." Annabeth said.

"Yay! Blow things up time!" Tyson clapped his hands in glee.

"Wait, Annabeth." Chiron said. "This goes against Ancient Rules, a hero is only allowed two companions."

"I'll need them, Chiron! It's important!" She insisted.

Chiron didn't like it, but sighed. "Very well. Let us adjourn. The members of the quest must prepare themselves. Tomorrow at dawn, we send you into the Labyrinth."

* * *

The next morning, everyone got ready to go into the labyrinth.

"Here, Luke." Vitani said, handing Luke a black backpack. "This is like my satchel bag, packed with everything you might need."

"Why?" Luke asked. "Not that I don't appreciate it."

"Because, it's a high possibility that we might separate in the maze." Vitani said.

"Don't talk like that." Luke frowned.

"I'm just pointing out the possibility, darling." Vitani smiled, giving him an innocent expression.

"Well, not matter what, I won't let you go." Luke said, pulling Vitani in for a kiss.

* * *

Chiron, Quintus, and Mrs. O'Leary stood wit the other campers who came to wish them good luck.

A couple of tents had been set up for guard duty despite Vitani putting a barrier around the entrance. Beckendorf and his sibling were also working on a line of defensive spikes and trenches. Chiron decided it was best to guard the entrance at all times. It was possible that if too many monsters attacked the barrier at once, it wouldn't hold.

"Percy, what happened to you?" Vitani gasped, looking at the son of Poseidon who looked like he hadn't slept a wink.

"He killed the water fountain last night." Tyson confided.

"What?" Annabeth asked, confused.

"Well, it appears that you are ready!" Chiron said as he trotted over.

"Hey, uh, Chiron, can I ask you a favor while I'm gone?" Percy asked before leading Chiron away to talk privately.

Annabeth soon trudged over when the two were taking a long time with their conversation.

"Take care." Chiron said. "And good hunting."

"You too." Percy said.

"Well," Grover said nervously, "good-bye sunshine."

"Hello rocks." Tyson agreed.

And together, the six of them descended into darkness.

* * *

They had only made it a hundred feet into the labyrinth before getting hopelessly lost.

The tunnel changed, instead of the stone corridor they had walked into, it was now round like a sewer, constructed of red brick with iron barred portholes every ten feet.

Annabeth had tried her best to guide them. "If we keep one hand on the left wall and follow it, we should be able to find our way out again by reversing course."

Unfortunately, as soon as she had said that, the left wall disappeared. They had found themselves in the middle of a circular chamber with 8 tunnels leading out, and no idea of how they had gotten there.

"Um, which way did we come in?" Grover said nervously.

"Just turn around." Annabeth said.

They each turned toward a different tunnel. It was ridiculous. None of them could decide which way led back to camp.

"Left walls are mean." Tyson said. "Which way now?"

"That way." Annabeth said, pointing into one of the tunnels.

"How do you know?" Luke asked.

"Deductive reasoning."

"So... you're guessing." Percy said.

"Just come on." She huffed.

The tunnel she'd chosen narrowed quickly. The walls turned to grey cement, and the ceiling got so low that pretty soon they were hunching over.

Tyson was forced to crawl along with Luke, as the two were the tallest in the group.

Grover's hyperventilating was the loudest noise in the maze. "I can't stand it anymore." he whispered. "Are we there yet?"

"We've been down here maybe five minutes." Annabeth told him.

"It's been longer than that," Grover insisted. "And why would Pan be down here? This is the opposite of the wild!"

They kept shuffling forward. Just when Vitani was sure the tunnel would get so narrow it would squish them, it opened into a huge room.

Percy shined my light around the walls and said, "Whoa."

The whole room was covered in mosaic tiles. The pictures were grimy and faded, but they could still make out the colours—red, blue, green, gold. The frieze showed the Olympian gods at a feast. There was Poseidon with his trident, holding out grapes for Dionysus to turn into wine. Zeus was partying with satyrs, and Hermes was flying through the air on his winged sandals. The pictures were beautiful, but they weren't very accurate. They had seen the gods. Dionysus was not that handsome, and Hermes's nose wasn't that big.

In the middle of the room was a three-tiered fountain. It looked like it hadn't held water in a long time.

"What is this place?" Percy muttered. "It looks—"

"Roman." Annabeth said. "Those mosaics area bout two thousand years old."

"Really? How interesting." Vitani said, observing the mosaic closely.

"But how can they be Roman?" Percy asked.

"The Labyrinth is a patchwork." Annabeth said. "I told you, it's always expanding, adding pieces. It's the only work of architecture that grows by itself."

"You make it sound like it's alive."

"It probably is." Luke said, grimacing.

A groaning noise echoed from the tunnel in front of us.

"Let's not talk about it being alive." Grover whimpered. "Please?"

"All right." Annabeth said. "Forward."

"Down the hall with the bad sounds?" Tyson said. Even he looked nervous.

"Yeah," Annabeth said. "The architecture is getting older. That's a good sign. Daedalus's workshop would be in the oldest part."

"Just because you said that, I bet now his workshop would be in the newest part." Vitani groaned.

That made sense. But soon the maze was toying with them—they had went fifty feet and the tunnel turned back to cement, with brass pipes running down the sides. The walls were spray-painted with graffiti. A neon tagger sign read MOZ RULZ.

"I'm thinking this is not Roman." Percy said helpfully.

Annabeth took a deep breath, then forged ahead. The floor beneath them changed from cement to mud to bricks and back again. There was no sense to any of it. They stumbled into a wine cellar—a bunch of dusty bottles in wooden racks—like they were walking through somebody's basement, only there was no exit above them, just more tunnels leading on.

"This is so confusing, no wonder people get lost." Luke sighed.

Later the ceiling turned to wooden planks, and everyone could hear voices above them and the creaking of footsteps, as if they were walking under some kind of bar. It was reassuring to hear people, but then again, they couldn't get to them.

Then they had found our first skeleton.

He was dressed in white clothes, like some kind of uniform. A wooden crate of glass bottles sat next to him.

"A milkman." Annabeth said.

"What?" Percy asked.

"They used to deliver milk."

"Yeah, I know what they are, but…that was when my mom was little, like a million years ago. What's he doing here?" Percy asked.

"Poor guy, he must've died of starvation down here." Vitani said sadly.

"Some people wander in by mistake." Annabeth said. "Some come exploring on purpose and never make it back. A long time ago, the Cretans sent people in here as human sacrifices."

Grover gulped. "He's been down here a long time." He pointed to the skeleton's bottles, which were coated with white dust. The skeleton's fingers were clawing at the brick wall, like he had died trying to get out.

Luke grimaced, what a horrible way to die.

"Only bones." Tyson said. "Don't worry, goat boy. The milkman is dead."

"The milkman doesn't bother me." Grover said. "It's the smell. Monsters. Can't you smell it?"

Tyson nodded. "Lots of monsters. But underground smells like that. Monsters and dead milk people."

"Oh, good." Grover whimpered. "I thought maybe I was wrong."

"We have to get deeper into the maze." Annabeth said. "There has to be a way to the centre."

She led them to the right, then the left, through a corridor of stainless steel like some kind of air shaft, and they ended up arriving back in the Roman tile room with the fountain.

This time, we weren't alone.

Luke immediately shoved his wife behind him, pulling Backbiter out.

The man before them had two faces. They jutted out from either side of his head, staring over his shoulders, so his head was much wider than it should've been, and he had two overlapping ears and mirror-image sideburns.

He was dressed like a New York City doorman: a long black overcoat, shiny shoes, and a black top-hat that somehow managed to stay on his double-wide head.

"Well, Luke?" Said his left face. "Hurry up!"

"Don't mind him." Said the right face. "He's terribly rude. Right this way, mister."

Luke looked between the two faces warily.

Tyson frowned. "That funny man has two faces."

"The funny man has ears, you know!" The left face scolded. "Now come along, mister."

"No, no." The right face said. "This way, mister. Talk to  _me_ , please."

The two-faced man regarded Luke as best he could out of the corners of his eyes. It was impossible to look at him straight on without focusing on one side or the other.

"He wants you to choose, Luke." Annabeth frowned.

Behind him were two exits, blocked by wooden doors with huge iron locks. They hadn't been there their first time through the room. The two-faced doorman held a silver key, which he kept passing from his left hand to his right hand.

Behind them, the doorway they'd came through had disappeared, replaced by more mosaics. They wouldn't be going back the way they came.

"The exits are closed." Annabeth said.

"Duh!" the man's left face said.

"Where do they lead?" Percy asked.

"One probably leads the way you wish to go." the right face said encouragingly. "The other leads to certain death."

"I—I know who you are." Annabeth said.

"Oh, you're a smart one!" The left face sneered. "But does he know which way to choose? I don't have all day."

"Why are you trying to confuse me?" Luke asked.

The right face smiled. "You're in charge now, my boy. All the decisions are on your shoulders."

Luke furrowed his brow.

"We know you, Luke." the left face said. "We know what you wrestle with every day. We know your indecision. You will have to make your choice sooner or later. And the choice may kill you."

"Leave him alone." Vitani said, stepping out from behind her husband. "Who are you, anyway?"

"I'm your best friend." the right face said.

"I'm your worst enemy." the left face said.

"I'm Janus," both faces said in harmony. "God of Doorways. Beginnings. Endings. Choices."

"This is serious. One bad choice can ruin your whole life. It can kill you and all of your friends. But no pressure, Luke. Choose!"The left face said.

"Don't do it." Annabeth said.

"I'm afraid he has to." the right face said cheerfully.

Luke was about to answer, but a brilliant light flooded the room and interrupted him.

Janus raised his hands to either side of his head to cover his eyes. When the light died, a woman was standing at the fountain.

She was tall and graceful with long hair the color of chocolate, braided in plaits with gold ribbons. She wore a simple white dress, but when she moved, the fabric shimmered with colours like oil on water.

"Janus," she said, "are we causing trouble again?"

"N-no, milady!" Janus's right face stammered.

"Yes!" the left face said.

"Shut up!" the right face said.

"Excuse me?" the woman asked.

"Not you, milady! I was talking to myself."

"I see." the lady said. "You know very well your visit is premature. The man's time has not yet come. So I give  _you_ a choice: leave these heroes to me, or I shall turn  _you_ into a door and break you down."

"What kind of door?" the left face asked.

"Shut up!" the right face said.

"Because French doors are nice." the left face mused. "Lots of natural light."

"Shut up!" the right face wailed. "Not you, milady! Of course I'll leave. I was just having a bit of fun. Doing my job. Offering choices."

"Causing indecision." the woman corrected. "Now be gone!"

The left face muttered, "Party pooper," then he raised his silver key, inserted it into the air, and disappeared.

The woman turned towards them. Her eyes shined with power.  _Leave these heroes to me_. That didn't sound good. But then the woman smiled.

"You must be hungry." she said. "Sit with me and talk."

She waved her hand, and the old Roman fountain began to flow. Jets of clear water sprayed into the air. A marble table appeared, laden with platters of sandwiches and pitchers of lemonade.

"Who…who are you?" Percy asked.

"I am Hera." The woman smiled. "Queen of Heaven."

"The Goddess of Marriage." Vitani said in a stoic manner, pushing all her distaste for the goddess behind her occlumency shields. Hera was only the Queen of Olympus, as if she would be the queen of Elysium and the Isles of Blest.

"That's correct." Hera said, looking slightly pleased.

She then served sandwiches and poured lemonade.

"Grover, dear," she said, "use your napkin. Don't eat it."

"Yes, ma'am," Grover said.

"Tyson, you're wasting away. Would you like another peanut butter sandwich?"

Tyson stifled a belch. "Yes, nice lady."

"Queen Hera." Annabeth said. "I can't believe it. What are you doing in the Labyrinth?"

Hera smiled. She flicked one finger and Annabeth's hair combed itself. All the dirt and grime disappeared from her face. She did the same for Vitani as well.

"I came to see you, naturally." the goddess said.

Grover, Luke, and Percy exchanged nervous looks. Usually when the gods come looking for you, it's not out of the goodness of their hearts. It's because they want something.

Tyson was inhaling one peanut butter sandwich after another, and Grover was loving the lemonade, crunching the Styrofoam cup like an ice-cream cone.

"I didn't think—" Annabeth faltered. "Well, I didn't think you liked heroes."

_'She doesn't.'_ Vitani thought, scowling mentally.

Hera smiled indulgently. "Because of that little spat I had with Hercules? Honestly, I got so much bad press because of one disagreement."

"Didn't you try to kill him, like, a lot of times?" Annabeth asked.

Hera waved her hand dismissively. "Water under the bridge, my dear. Besides, he was one of my loving husband's children by  _another_ woman. My patience wore thin, I'll admit it. But Zeus and I have had some excellent marriage counselling sessions since then. We've aired our feelings and come to an understanding—especially after that last little incident."

"You mean when he sired Thalia?" Percy guessed.

Luke grimaced. Percy's big mouth was going to get him killed one day.

Hera's eyes turned toward him frostily.

"Percy Jackson, isn't it? One of Poseidon's…children. As I recall, I voted to let you live at the winter solstice. I hope I voted correctly."

She then turned to Luke with a sunny smile.

"At any rate, I certainly bear you no ill will, my dear boy. I appreciate the difficulty of your quest. Especially when you have troublemakers like Janus to deal with."

Luke lowered his gaze. "Why was he here? He was driving me crazy."

"Trying to." Hera agreed. "You must understand, the minor gods like Janus have always been frustrated by the small parts they play in the universe. Some, I fear, have little love for Olympus, and could easily be swayed to support the rise of my father."

Vitani clenched her fists, thinking about her own godly mother.

"Your father?" Percy said. "Oh, right."

"We must watch the minor gods," Hera said. "Janus. Hecate. Morpheus. They give lip service to Olympus, and yet—"

"That's where Dionysus went." Percy remembered. "He was checking on the minor gods."

"Indeed." Hera stared at the fading mosaics of the Olympians. "You see, in times of trouble, even gods can lose faith. They start putting their trust in the wrong things. They stop looking at the big picture and start being selfish. But I'm the goddess of marriage, you see. I'm used to perseverance. You have to rise above the squabbling and chaos, and keep believing. You have to always keep your goals in mind."

"What are your goals?" Annabeth asked.

She smiled. "To keep my family, the Olympians, together, of course. At the moment, the best way I can do that is by helping you. Zeus does not allow me to interfere much, I am afraid. But once every century or so, for a quest I care deeply about, he allows me to grant a wish."

"A wish?"

"Before you ask it, let me give you some advice, which I can do for free. I know you seek Daedalus. His Labyrinth is as much a mystery to me as it is to you. But if you want to know his fate, I would visit my son Hephaestus at his forge. Daedalus was a great inventor, a mortal after Hephaestus' heart. There has never been a mortal Hephaestus admired more. If anyone would have kept up with Daedalus and could tell you his fate, it is Hephaestus."

"But how do we get there?" Annabeth asked. "That's my wish. I want a way to navigate the Labyrinth."

Hera looked disappointed.

"So be it. You wished for something, however, that you have already been given."

"I don't understand."

"The means is already within your grasp." She looked at me. "Percy knows the answer."

"I do?" Percy asked.

"But that's not fair." Annabeth said. "You're not telling me what it is!"

Hera shook her head. "Getting something and having the wits to use it…those are two different things. I'm sure your mother Athena would agree."

Annabeth looked frustrated.

The room rumbled like distant thunder. Hera stood. "That would be my cue. Zeus grows impatient. Think on what I have said, Annabeth. Seek out Hephaestus. You will have to pass through the ranch, I imagine. But keep going. And use all the means at your disposal, however common they may seem."

She pointed toward the two doors and they melted away, revealing twin corridors, open and dark. "One last thing, Luke. I have postponed your day of choice, but I have not prevented it. Soon, as Janus said, you  _will_ have to make a decision. Farewell!"

She waved a hand and turned into white smoke. So did the food, just as Tyson chomped down on a sandwich that turned into mist in his mouth.

The fountain trickled to a stop. The mosaic walls dimmed and turned grungy and faded again. The room was no longer any place you'd want to have a picnic.

Annabeth stamped her foot. "What sort of help was that? 'Here, have a sandwich. Make a wish. Oops, I can't help you!' Poof!"

"Poof." Tyson agreed sadly, looking at his empty plate.

"Well," Grover sighed, "she said Percy knows the answer. That's something."

They all looked at him.

"But I don't." Percy said. "I don't know what she was talking about."

Annabeth sighed. "All right. Then we'll just keep going."

"Which way?" Luke asked.

Then Grove and Tyson both tensed. They stood up together like they'd rehearsed it. "Left." they both said.

Annabeth frowned. "How can you be sure?"

"Because something is coming from the right," Grover said.

"Something big." Tyson agreed. "In a hurry."

"Left is sounding pretty good." Vitani decided, and together they plunged into the dark corridor.

 


	29. Chapter 29

The good news: the left tunnel was straight with no side exits, twists, or turns.

The bad news; it was a dead end.

After sprinting a hundred yards, they ran into an enormous boulder that completely blocked their path. Behind them, the sounds of dragging footsteps and heavy breathing echoed down the corridor. Something—definitely not human—was on their tail.

"Tyson," Percy said, "can you—"

"Yes!" He slammed his shoulder against the rock so hard the whole tunnel shook. Dust trickled from the stone ceiling.

"Hurry!" Grover said. "Don't bring the roof down, but hurry!"

Vitani turned around, readying her wand just in case the monster had managed to catch up to them.

The boulder finally gave way with a horrible grinding noise. Tyson pushed it into a small room and everyone dashed through behind it.

"Close the entrance!" Annabeth said.

When they all got on the other side of the boulder, everyone helped Tyson push the boulder back into place.

The monster chasing them wailed in frustration as they heaved the rock back into placed and sealed the corridor.

"We trapped it." Percy said.

"Or trapped ourselves." Grover said.

They were in a twenty-foot-square cement room and the opposite wall was covered with metal bars. They'd tunnelled straight into a cell.

"Well, now I can safely say that I've been in jail before." Luke joked.

"That not a good thing." Vitani sighed.

"What in Hades?" Annabeth tugged on the bars. They didn't budge.

Through the bars they could see rows of cells in a ring around a dark courtyard—at least three stories of metal doors and metal catwalks.

"A prison." Percy said. "Maybe Tyson can break—"

"Shh," said Grover. "Listen."

Somewhere above them, deep sobbing echoed through the building. There was another sound, too—a raspy voice muttering something that no one couldn't make out. The words were strange, like rocks in a tumbler.

"What's that language?" Vitani whispered.

Tyson's eye widened. "Can't be."

"What?" Percy asked.

He grabbed two bars on their cell door and bent them wide enough for even a Cyclops to slip through.

"Wait!" Grover called.

But Tyson wasn't about to wait, he ran and they all ended up chasing after him. The prison was dark, only a few dim fluorescent lights flickering above.

"I know this place." Annabeth said. "This is Alcatraz."

"You mean that island is near San Francisco?" Percy asked.

"Alcatraz Prison? Isn't this place supposed to be haunted or something?" Luke asked.

She nodded. "My school took a field trip here. It's like a museum."

It was hard to believe that they had ended up on the other side of the country using the labyrinth.

"Freeze." Grover warned.

But Tyson kept going. Grover grabbed his arm and pulled him back with all his strength. "Stop, Tyson!" he whispered. "Can't you see it?"

Everyone turned.

On the second-floor balcony, across the courtyard, was a monster more horrible than anything they had ever seen before. Except Vitani, she still thought Dementors were the worst of them all still but she had to admit that this creature was up there in the top five.

It was a bit like a centaur, with a woman's body from the waist up. But instead of a horse's lower body, it had the body of a dragon—at least twenty feet long, black and scaly with enormous claws and a barbed tail. Her legs looked like they were tangled in vines, but they actually were sprouting snakes, hundreds of vipers darting around, constantly looking for something to bite. The woman's hair was also made of snakes, like Medusa's. Weirdest of all, around her waist, where the woman part met the dragon part, her skin bubbled and morphed, occasionally producing the heads of animals—a vicious wolf, a bear, a lion, as if she were wearing a belt of ever-changing creatures.

"It's her." Tyson whimpered.

"Get down!" Grover said.

They all crouched in the shadows, but the monster wasn't paying them any attention. It seemed to be talking to someone inside a cell on the second floor. That was where the sobbing was coming from. The dragon woman said something in her weird rumbling language.

"What's she saying?" Luke muttered. "What's that language?"

"The tongue of the old times." Tyson shivered. "What Mother Earth spoke to Titans and… her other children. Before the gods."

"You understand it?" Percy asked. "Can you translate?"

Tyson closed his eyes and began to speak in a horrible, raspy woman's voice. "You will work for the master or suffer."

Annabeth shuddered. "I hate it when he does that."

Luke patted Annabeth's back in understanding.

"I will not serve." Tyson said in a deep, wounded voice.

He switched to the monster's voice: "Then I shall enjoy your pain, Briares."

Tyson faltered when he said that name, letting out a strangled gulp.

Then he continued in the monster's voice. "If you thought your first imprisonment was unbearable, you have yet to feel true torment. Think on this until I return."

The dragon lady tromped toward the stairwell, vipers hissing around her legs like grass skirts. She spread wings that they hadn't noticed before—huge bad wings she kept folded against her dragon back. She leaped off the catwalk and soared across the courtyard. The group crouched lower into the shadows.

A hot sulphurous wind blasted over them as the monster flew over. Then she disappeared around the corner.

"H-h-horrible." Grover said. "I've never smelled any monster that strong."

"Cyclopes' worst nightmare." Tyson murmured. "Kampê."

"Who?" Percy asked.

Tyson swallowed. "Every Cyclops knows about her. Stories about her scare us when we're babies. She was our jailer in the bad years."

Annabeth nodded. "I remember now. When the Titans ruled, they imprisoned Gaea and Ouranos' earlier children—the Cyclopes and the Hekatonkheires."

"The Heka-what?" Vitani asked.

"The Hundred-Handed Ones." She said. "They called them that because…well, they had a hundred hands. They were elder brothers of the Cyclopes."

"Very powerful." Tyson said. "Wonderful! As tall as the sky. So strong they could break mountains!"

"Cool." Percy said. "Unless you're a mountain."

"Kampê was the jailer." He said. "She worked for Kronos. She kept our brothers locked up in Tartarus, tortured them always, until Zeus came. He killed Kampê and freed Cyclopes and Hundred-Handed Ones to help fight against the Titans in the big war."

"And now Kampê is back." Vitani said.

"Bad." Tyson summed up.

"So who's in that cell?" Percy asked. "You said a name—"

"Briares!" Tyson perked up. "He is a Hundred-Handed One. They are as tall as the sky and—"

"Yeah." Percy said. "They break mountains."

"Why is he crying?" Luke asked.

"I guess we should check it out," Annabeth said, "before Kampê comes back."

As they approached the cell, the weeping got louder. Luke, Vitani, and Percy did double takes at the sight of the source of the crying. He was human-size and his skin was very pale, the color of milk. He wore a loincloth like a big diaper. His feet seemed too big for his body, with cracked dirty toenails, eight toes on each foot. But the top half of his body was the weird part. He made Janus look downright normal. His chest sprouted arms in rows, all around his body.

The arms looked like normal arms, but there were so many of them, all tangled together, that his chest looked kind of like a forkful of spaghetti somebody had twirled together. Several of his hands were covering his face as he sobbed.

"Either the sky isn't as tall as it used to be," Percy muttered, "or he's short."

Luke sniggered.

Tyson didn't pay any attention. He fell to his knees.

"Briares!" he called.

The sobbing stopped.

"Great Hundred-Handed One!" Tyson said. "Help us!"

Briars looked up. His face was long and sad, with a crooked nose and bad teeth. He had deep brown eyes—completely brown with no whites or black pupils, like eyes formed out of clay.

"Run while you can, Cyclops." Briares said miserably. "I cannot even help myself."

"You are a Hundred-Handed One!" Tyson insisted. "You can do anything!"

Briars wiped his nose with five or six hands. Several others were fidgeting with little pieces of metal and wood from a broken bed, the way Tyson always played with spare parts. It was amazing to watch. The hands seemed to have a mind of their own. They built a toy boat out of wood, then disassembled it just as fast. Other hands were scratching at the cement floor for no apparent reason. Others were playing rock, paper, scissors. A few others were making ducky and doggie shadow puppets against the wall.

"I cannot." Briares moaned. "Kampê is back! The Titans will rise and throw us back into Tartarus."

"Put on your brave face!" Tyson said.

Immediately Briares' face morphed into something else. Same brown eyes, but otherwise totally different features. He had an upturned nose, arched eyebrows, and a weird smile, like he was trying to act brave. But then his face turned back to what it had been before.

"No good." he said. "My scared face keeps coming back."

"I didn't think he had meant that literally." Vitani whispered.

"How did you do that?" Percy asked.

Annabeth elbowed him. "Don't be rude. The Hundred-Handed Ones all have fifty different faces."

"Must make it hard to get a yearbook picture." Percy said.

Tyson was still entranced. "It will be okay, Briares! We will help you! Can I have your autograph?"

Briares sniffled. "Do you have one hundred pens?"

"I have a pen, but I could multiply it into a hundred pens if you want." Vitani offered.

Tyson brightened.

"Guys." Grover interrupted. "We have to get out of here. Kampê will be back. She'll sense us sooner or later."

"Break the bars." Annabeth said.

"Yes!" Tyson said, smiling proudly. "Briares can do it. He is very strong. Stronger than Cyclopes, even! Watch!"

Briares whimpered. A dozen of his hands started playing patty-cake, but none of them made any attempt to break the bars.

"If he's so strong," Luke said, "why is he stuck in jail?"

Annabeth ribbed him. "He's terrified." she whispered. "Kampê had imprisoned him in Tartarus for thousands of years. How would you feel?"

The Hundred-Handed One covered his face again.

"Briares?" Tyson asked. "What…what is wrong? Show us your great strength!"

"Tyson." Annabeth said. "I think you'd better break the bars."

Tyson's smile melted slowly.

"I will break the bars." he repeated. He grabbed the cell door and ripped it off its hinges like it was made of wet clay.

"Come on, Briares." Vitani said. "Let's get you out of here."

She held out her hand. For a second, Briares' face morphed to a hopeful expression. Several of his arms reached out, but twice as many slapped them away.

"I cannot," he said. "She will punish me."

"It's all right." Annabeth promised. "You fought the Titans before, and you won, remember?"

"I remember the war." Briares' face morphed again—furrowed brow and a pouting mouth. His brooding face. "Lightning shook the world. We threw many rocks. The Titans and the monsters almost won. Now they are getting strong again. Kampê said so."

"Don't listen to her." Luke said. "Come on!"

"I'll even set her on fire for you!" Vitani offered.

He didn't move, and they didn't have much time before Kampê returned. But they couldn't just leave him here. Tyson would cry for weeks.

"One game of rock, paper, scissors." Percy blurted out. "If I win, you come with us. If I lose, we'll leave you in jail."

Annabeth looked at him like he was crazy.

Briares' face morphed to doubtful. "I always win rock, paper, scissors."

"Then let's do it!" Percy pounded my fist in my palm three times.

Briares did the same with all one hundred hands, which sounded like an army marching three steps forward. He came up with a whole avalanche of rocks, a classroom set of scissors, and enough paper to make a fleet of airplanes.

"I told you." he said sadly. "I always—" His face morphed to confusion. "What is that you made?"

"A gun." Percy said, showing him my finger gun. "A gun beats anything."

"Oh, I see." Luke chuckled.

"That was pretty clever of him." Vitani smiled.

"That's not fair." Briares said.

"I didn't say anything about fair. Kampê's not going to be fair if we hang around. She's going to blame you for ripping off the bars. Now come on!" Percy urged.

Briares sniffled. "Demigods are cheaters." But he slowly rose to his feet and followed them out of the cell.

But then Tyson froze.

On the ground floor right below, Kampê was snarling at them.

"The other way." Luke said.

They bolted down the catwalk. This time Briares was happy to follow them. In fact, he sprinted out front, a hundred arms waving in panic.

Behind them, they heard the sound of giant wings as Kampê took to the air. She hissed and growled in her ancient language.

"She says she's going to dismember us before eating us." Vitani translated helpfully.

"How do you know that?" Luke asked, panicked.

"The snakes told me." Vitani answered, reminding everyone that she could speak to snakes.

Then they scrambled down the stairs, through a corridor, and past a guard's station—out into another block of prison cells.

"Left." Annabeth said. "I remember this from the tour."

They burst outside and found themselves in the prison yard, ringed by security towers and barbed wire. Tourists were milling around, taking pictures. The wind whipped cold off the bay. In the south, San Francisco gleamed all white and beautiful, but in the north, over Mount Tamalpais, huge storm clouds swirled.

The whole sky seemed like a black top spinning from the mountain where Atlas was imprisoned, and where the Titan palace of Mount Othrys was rising anew. It was hard to believe the tourists couldn't see the supernatural storm brewing, but they didn't give any hint that anything was wrong.

"It's even worse." Annabeth said, gazing to the north. "The storms have been bad all year, but that—"

"Keep moving." Briares wailed. "She is behind us!"

Everyone ran to the far end of the yard, as far from the cellblock as possible.

"Kampê's too big to get through the doors." Percy said hopefully.

Then the wall exploded.

Tourists screamed as Kampê appeared from the dust and rubble, her wings spread out as wide as the yard. She was holding two swords—long bronze scimitars that glowed with a weird greenish aura, boiling wisps of vapour that smelled sour and hot even across the yard.

"Poison!" Grover yelped. "Don't let those things touch you or…"

"Or we'll die?" Vitani guessed.

"Well…after you shrivel slowly to dust, yes."

"Let's avoid the swords." Luke decided.

"Briares, fight!" Tyson urged. "Grow to full size!"

Instead, Briares looked like he was trying to shrink even smaller. He appeared to be wearing his  _absolutely terrified_ face.

Kampê thundered toward us on her dragon legs, hundreds of snakes slithering around her body.

"Reducto!" Vitani shouted, blasting Kampê right in the face. "Run!"

That was the end of the debate. Vitani had slowed it down, as the creature was holding its face in agony. They ran through the jail yard and out the gates of the prison, the monster soon right behind them. Mortals screamed and ran. Emergency sirens began to blare.

They hit the surf just as a tour boat was unloading.

"The boat?" Grover asked.

"Too slow." Tyson said. "Back into the maze. Only chance."

"We need a diversion." Annabeth said.

Tyson ripped a metal lamp post out of the ground. "I will distract Kampê. You run ahead."

"I'll help you!" Vitani said.

"No!" Tyson said. "You go. Poison will hurt Cyclopes. A lot of pain. But it won't kill."

"Are you sure?" Percy asked.

"Go, brother. I will meet you inside."

Annabeth, Grover, Vitani, Luke, and Percy each took one of Briares' hands and dragged him toward the concession stands while Tyson bellowed, lowered his pole, and charged Kampê like a jousting knight.

She'd been glaring at Briares, but Tyson got her attention as soon as he nailed her in the chest with the pole, pushing her back into the wall.

She shrieked and slashed with her swords, slicing the pole to shreds. Poison dripped in pools all around her, sizzling into the cement.

Tyson jumped back as Kampê's hair lashed and hissed, and the vipers around her legs darted their tongues in every direction. A lion popped out of the weird half-formed faces around her waist and roared.

As they sprinted for the cellblocks, the last thing they saw was Tyson picking up a Dippin' Dots stand and throwing it at Kampê. Ice cream and poison exploded everywhere, all the little snakes in Kampê's hair dotted with tutti-frutti.

"Can't make it." Briares huffed.

"Tyson is risking his life to help you!" Percy yelled. "You  _will_ make it."

As they reached the door of the cellblock, an angry roar was heard. They glanced back and saw Tyson running towards them at full speed, Kampê right behind him. She was plastered in ice cream and T-shirts. One of the bear heads on her waist was now wearing a pair of crooked plastic Alcatraz sunglasses.

"Reducto!"

Kampê was blasted back a few feet, wailing in pain once more.

Vitani kept shooting curses at it, trying to injure her as much as she could, if possible, kill her.

"Hurry!" Annabeth said. "Look for the mark!"

"There!" Luke touched a tiny scratch, and it became a Greek Δ. The mark of Daedalus glowed blue, and the stone wall grinded open.

Thankfully because of Vitani, Tyson no longer had the monster on his tail.

Percy pushed Briares inside the maze, then Annabeth and Grover while Luke grabbed Vitani and carried her in while she was still shooting spells over his shoulder.

Kampê charged, despite being heavily injured, but she was too late. The stone door closed and its magic sealed them in. The whole tunnel shook as Kampê pounded against it, roaring furiously.

They all then ran into the darkness.

* * *

They had finally stopped in a room full of waterfalls. The floor was one big pit, ringed by a slippery stone walkway. Around them, on all four walls, water tumbled from huge pipes. The water spilled down into the pit, and even when Percy shined a light, they couldn't see the bottom.

Briares slumped against the wall. He scooped up water in a dozen hands and washed his face.

"This pit goes straight to Tartarus." he murmured. "I should jump in and save you trouble."

"Don't talk that way!" Vitani scolded.

"You can come back to camp with us. You can help us prepare. You know more about fighting Titans than anybody." Annabeth agreed.

"I have nothing to offer." Briares said. "I have lost everything."

"What about your brothers?" Tyson asked. "The other two must stand tall as mountains! We can take you to them."

Briares' expression morphed to something even sadder: his grieving face.

"They are no more. They faded."

The waterfalls thundered. Tyson stared into the pit and blinked tears out of his eye.

"What exactly do you mean,  _they faded_ _?_ " Percy asked. "I thought monsters were immortal, like the gods."

"Percy," Grover said weakly, "even immortality has limits. Sometimes…sometimes monsters get forgotten and they lose their will to stay immortal."

There was a silence.

"I must go." Briares said, speaking up.

"Kronos' army will invade camp." Tyson said. "We need help."

Briares hung his head. "I cannot, Cyclops."

"You are strong."

"Not anymore." Briares rose.

"Hey." Percy grabbed one of his arms and pulled him aside, where the roar of the water would hide our words. "Briares, we need you. In case you haven't noticed, Tyson believes in you. He risked his life for you."

"So did Vitani." Luke added.

Percy then told him about everything—Ethan's invasion plan, the Labyrinth entrance at camp, Daedalus's workshop, Kronos' golden coffin.

Briares just shook his head. "I cannot, demigod. I do not have a finger gun to win this game."

To prove his point, he made one hundred finger guns.

"Maybe that's why monsters fade." Vitani said. "Maybe it's not about what the mortals believe. Maybe it's because  _you_ give up on yourself."

His pure brown eyes regarded her. His face morphed into an expression she recognized—shame. Then he turned and trudged off down the corridor until he was lost in the shadows.

Tyson sobbed.

"It's okay." Grover hesitantly patted his shoulder, which must've taken all his courage.

Tyson sneezed. "It's not okay, goat boy. He was my hero."

"He'll come back." Vitani said. "He just needs some time to think right now. But he'll come back, I'm sure of it."

Finally Annabeth stood and shouldered her backpack. "Come on, guys. This pit is making me nervous. Let's find a better place to camp for the night."

They settled in a corridor made of huge marble blocks. It looked like it could've been part of a Greek tomb, with bronze torch holders fastened to the walls. It had to be an older part of the maze, and Annabeth decided this was a good sign.

"We must be close to Daedalus's workshop." She said. "Get some rest, everybody. We'll keep going in the morning."

"How do we know when it's morning?" Grover asked.

"Just rest." she insisted.

Grover didn't need to be told twice. He pulled a heap of straw out of his pack, ate some of it, made a pillow out of the rest, and was snoring in no time. Tyson took longer getting to sleep. He tinkered with some metal scraps from his building kit for a while, but whatever he was making, he wasn't happy with it. He kept disassembling the pieces.

The metal pieces soon fell out of his hand, still disassembled, and Tyson began to snore.

Vitani pulled a large sleeping back out of her satchel bag and set it down. She and Luke got into it together before closing their eyes with Luke wrapping his arms around her protectively.

* * *

There was no morning in the maze, but once everyone woke up and had a fabulous breakfast consisting of warm cheese and bacon omelets (except Grover who only had the cheese) and hot coffee, courtesy of Vitani and her wonderful satchel bag, they set out and kept travelling.

The old stone tunnels changed to dirt with cedar beams, like a gold mine. Annabeth started getting agitated.

"This isn't right." she said. "It should still be stone."

They soon came to a cave where stalactites hung low from the ceiling. In the centre of the dirt floor was a rectangular pit, like a grave.

Grover shivered. "It smells like the Underworld in here."

Then Percy saw something glinting at the edge of the pit—a foil wrapper. He shined his flashlight into the hole and saw a half-chewed cheeseburger floating in brown carbonated muck.

"Nico." Percy said. "He was summoning the dead again."

"For his sister, right?" Vitani asked.

Percy nodded.

Tyson whimpered. "Ghosts were here. I don't like ghosts."

"We've got to find him." Percy said before starting to run.

"Percy!" Annabeth called.

He ducked into a tunnel and saw light up ahead. By the time Annabeth, Tyson, Vitani, Luke, and Grover caught up with him, Percy was staring at daylight streaming through a set of bars above his head. They were under a steel grate made out of metal pipes. Everyone could see trees and blue sky through it.

"Where are we?" Percy wondered.


	30. Chapter 30

**A/N:** Holy cow! Finally, 100 thousand words! This by far is the longest fic I've ever written!

By the way, I've finally gotten over my Luke Castellan craze, though I still love him, now I'm into Percy because Logan Lerman is one of the hottest guys I've ever seen in my life, if not THE hottest. But I think it's his eyes that got me :D. Anyways, right now I'm into Percy fics, but to my frustration, most of the romance fics involve him getting with either Annabeth, Artemis, and Thalia. I personally want a Percy/OC fic because they're interesting and all the OCs are different in their own ways. There's too much Percabeth and it annoys the hell out of me, not to mention that I'm damn tired of reading it. So if any of my readers know a good Percy/OC story, or a Percy/Harry story where Percy is definitely a guy, then please leave it in a review!

I was actually thinking of writing a Percy/Minako Arisato from Persona 3 Portable, with Minako being the daughter of Nyx or something. I'll probably write a rough draft to see how it flows at first.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson or Harry Potter**

* * *

It wasn't long until a shadow fell across the grate and a cow stared down at them, a bright cherry red cow.

"Do you think it'll give strawberry milk if you milked her?" Luke whispered.

Annabeth rolled her eyes while Vitani giggled.

The cow mooed, putting one hoof tentatively on the bars before backing away.

"It's a cattle guard." Grover said.

"A what?" Percy asked.

"They put them at the gates of ranches so cows can't get out. They can't walk on them."

"How do you know that?"

Grover huffed indignantly. "Believe me, if  _you_ had hooves, you'd know about cattle guards. They're annoying!"

Percy then turned to the group. "Didn't Hera say something about a ranch? We need to check it out. Nico might be there."

Annabeth hesitated. "Alright, but how do we get out?"

Tyson solved the problem by hitting the cattle guard with both hands. It popped off and went flying out of sight. They heard a  _CLANG_ and a startled  _Moo!_

Tyson blushed.

"Sorry, cow!" He called before giving everyone a boost out of the tunnel.

They were on a ranch alright. Rolling hills stretched to the horizon, dotted with oak trees and cactus and boulders. A barbed wire fence ran from the gate in either direction. Cherry coloured cows roamed around, grazing on clumps of grass.

"Red Cattle." Luke said. "The cattle of the sun."

"What?" Percy asked.

"They're sacred to Apollo."

"Holy cow, they're holy cows!" Vitani gasped, making everyone giggle and laugh.

"Exactly." Annabeth nodded, giggling. "But what are they doing-"

"Wait." Grover said. "Listen."

At first everything seemed quiet…but then they heard it: the distant baying of dogs. The sound got louder. Then the underbrush rustled, and two dogs broke through. Except it wasn't two dogs. It was  _one_ dog with two heads.

It looked like a greyhound, long and snaky and sleek brown, but its neck V'd into two heads, both of them snapping and snarling and generally not very glad to see us.

"Bad Janus dog!" Tyson cried.

"I don't think that's it, buddy." Luke said, smiling wryly.

"Arf!" Grover barked, raising a hand in greeting.

The two-headed dog didn't seem impressed by Grover's ability to speak animal, it bared its teeth instead.

Then its master lumbered out of the woods.

He was a huge guy with stark white hair, a straw cowboy hat, and a braided white beard— kind of like Father Time, if Father Time went redneck and got totally jacked. He was wearing jeans, a DON'T MESS WITH TEXAS T-shirt, and a denim jacket with the sleeves ripped off so you could see his muscles. On his right bicep was a crossed-swords tattoo. He held a wooden club about the size of a nuclear warhead, with six-inch spikes bristling at the business end.

"Heel, Orthus." He told the dog.

The dog growled once more before circling his master's feet.

"What have we got here? Cattle rustlers?" He asked.

"Just travellers. We're on a quest." Annabeth answered.

The man's eye twitched. "Half-bloods, eh?"

"How'd you-" Annabeth cut Percy off however.

"I'm Annabeth, daughter of Athena. This is Percy, son of Poseidon. Luke, son of Hermes. Vitani, daughter of Hecate. Grover the satyr, and Tyson the-"

"Cyclops." The man finished. "Yes, I can see that."

He then glowered at Percy.

"And I know half-bloods because I  _am_ one, sonny. I'm Eurytion, the cowherd for this here ranch. Son of Ares. You came through the Labyrinth like the other one, I reckon."

"The other one? You mean Nico di Angelo?" Percy asked.

"We get a load of visitors from the labyrinth." Eurytion said darkly. "Not many ever leave."

He then glanced behind him like someone was watching.

He lowered his voice. "I'm only going to say this once, demigods. Get back in the maze now. Before it's too late."

"We're not leaving, not until we see this other demigod. Please." Annabeth insisted.

Eurytion grunted. "Then you leave me no choice, missy. I've got to take you to the boss."

* * *

On the way to see Eurytion's boss, they saw more pens of Apollo's sun cows and a herd of fire breathing horses.

Soon they finally exited the woods. Perched on a hill above them was a big ranch house—all white stone and wood and big windows.

"Don't break the rules." Eurytion warned as they walked up the steps to the front porch."No fighting. No drawing weapons. And don't make any comments about the boss's appearance."

"Why?" Percy asked. "What does he look like?"

Before Eurytion could reply, a new voice said, "Welcome to Triple G Ranch."

The man on the porch had a normal head, which was a relief. His face was weathered and brown from years in the sun. He had a slick black hair and a black pencil moustache like villains have in old movies.

He smiled at us, but the smile wasn't friendly; more amused, like  _Oh boy, more people to torture!_

Then they noticed his body…or bodies. He had three of them. His neck connected to the middle chest like normal, but he had two more chests, one to either side, connected at the shoulders, with a few inches between. His left arm grew out of his left chest, and the same on the right, so he had two arms, but four armpits, if that makes any sense.

The chests all connected into one enormous torso, with two regular but very beefy legs. His chests each wore a different color Western shirt—green, yellow, red, like a stoplight.

"Say hello to Mr. Geryon." Eurytion said.

"Hi." Percy said. "Nice chests-uh, ranch! Nice ranch you have."

Luke and Annabeth facepalmed.

Before the three bodied man could respond, Nico Di Angelo came out of the glass doors onto the porch.

"Geryon, I won't wait for-" He froze when he saw the group before drawing his sword. It was short, sharp, and dark as midnight.

Luke was about to pull Backbiter out before Geryon snarled.

"Put that away, Mr. Di Angelo. I ain't gonna have my guests killin' each other."

"But that's-"

"Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, Vitani Castellan and her husband, Luke Castellan. Along with a couple of their monster friends. Yes, I know."

Luke and Vitani shared a look. How did Geryon know their names?

"Monster friends?" Grover said indignantly.

"That man is wearing three shirts." Tyson said, as if he was just realizing this.

"They let my sister die!" Nico's voice trembled with rage. "They're here to kill me!"

"Nico, we're not here to kill you." Percy said, raising his hands. "What happened to Bianca was-"

"Don't speak her name! You're not worthy to even talk about her!"

"He's not listening..." Luke muttered.

"He's just a kid who lost his only sister." Vitani excused.

"Wait a minute." Annabeth said, pointing to Geryon. "How do you know our names?"

The three-bodied man winked. "I make it my business to keep informed, darlin'. Everybody pops into the ranch from time to time. Everyone needs something from ole Geryon. Now, Mr. Di Angelo, put that ugly sword away before I have Eurytion take it form you."

Eurytion sighed, but he hefted his spiked club. At his feet, Orthus growled.

Vitani was ready to flip out her wand at any moment.

Reluctantly, he sheathed his sword. "If you come near me, Percy, I'll summon help. You don't want to meet my helpers, I promise."

"I believe you." Percy said.

Geryon patted Nico's shoulder. "There, we've all made nice. Now come along, folks. I want to give you a tour of the ranch."

Geryon had a trolley thing—like one of those kiddie trains that take you around zoos. It was painted black and white in a cowhide pattern. The driver's car had a set of longhorns stuck to the hood, and the horn sounded like a cowbell.

"It's a moo-mobile." Luke said, staring at the kiddie train.

Nico sat in the very back.

Eurytion crawled in next to him with his spiked club and pulled his cowboy hat over his eyes like he was going to take a nap. Orthus jumped in the front seat next to Geryon and began barking happily in two-part harmony.

Annabeth, Tyson, Grover, Vitani, Luke, and Percy took the middle three cars.

"We have a huge operation!" Geryon boasted as the moo-mobile lurched forward. "Horses and cattle mostly, but all sorts of exotic varieties, too."

Annabeth gasped when they came over a hill. "Hippalektryons? I thought they were extinct!"

At the bottom of the hill was a fenced-in pasture with a dozen of the weirdest animals they had ever seen. Each had the front half of a horse and the back half of a rooster. Their rear feet were huge yellow claws and they had feathery tails and red wings.

"Rooster ponies." Tyson said in amazement. "Do they lay eggs?"

"Once a year!" Geryon grinned in the rear view mirror. "Very much in demand for omelettes!"

"That's horrible!" Annabeth said. "They must be an endangered species!"

Geryon waved his hand. "Gold is gold, darling. And you haven't tasted the omelets."

Vitani gritted her teeth, she hated people like this. Luke looked over at her and held her hand.

"That's not right." Grover murmured, but Geryon just kept narrating the tour.

"Now, over here," he said, "we have our fire-breathing horses, which you may have seen on your way in. They're bred for war, naturally."

"What war?" Percy asked.

Geryon grinned slyly. "Oh, whichever one comes along. And over yonder, of course, are our prized red cows."

Sure enough, hundreds of the cherry coloured cattle were grazing the side of the hill.

"So many." Luke said.

"Yes, well, Apollo is too busy to see them," Geryon explained, "so he subcontracts to us. We breed them vigorously because there's such a demand."

"For what?" Vitani asked, but she had a feeling that she already knew.

Geryon raised an eyebrow. "Meat, of course! Armies have to eat."

"You kill the sacred cows of the sun god for hamburger meat?" Grover asked incredulously, taking the words right out of Vitani's mouth. "That's the against ancient laws!"

"Oh, don't get so worked up, satyr. They're just animals."

"Just animals!"

"Yes, and if Apollo cared, I'm sure he would tell us."

"If he knew." Percy muttered.

Vitani made a mental note to tell the kids of the Apollo cabin about the ranch, to let their father know what was happening to his sacred cows.

Nico sat forward. "I don't care about any of this, Geryon. We had business to discuss, and this wasn't it!"

"All in good time, Mr. Di Angelo. Look over here; some of my exotic game."

The next field was ringed in barbed wire. The whole area was crawling with giant scorpions.

"Triple G Ranch." Luke said, suddenly remembering. "Your mark was on the crates at camp. Quintus got his scorpions from you."

"Quintus…" Geryon mused. "Short grey hair, muscular, swordsman?"

"Yeah."

"Never heard of him." Geryon said. "Now, over here are my prize stables! You must see them."

They didn't need to see them, because as soon as they got within three hundred yards they started to smell them. Near the banks of a green river was a horse corral the size of a football field. Stables lined one side of it. About a hundred horses were milling around in the muck—horse feces.

It was the most disgusting thing they had ever seen, like a poop blizzard had come through and dumped four feet of the stuff overnight. The horses were really gross from wading through it, and the stables were just as bad. It reeked like you would not believe—worse than the garbage boats on the East River.

Even Nico gagged. "What  _is_ that?"

"My stables!" Geryon said. "Well, actually they belong to Aegas, but we watch over them for a small monthly fee. Aren't they lovely?"

"They're disgusting!" Annabeth grimaced.

"Lots of poop." Tyson observed.

"How can you keep animals like that?" Grover cried.

"Y'all getting' on my nerves." Geryon said. "These are flesh-eating horses, see? They like these conditions."

"Plus, you're too cheap to have them cleaned." Eurytion mumbled from under his hat.

"Quiet!" Geryon snapped. "All right, perhaps the stables are a bit challenging to clean. Perhaps they do make me nauseous when the wind blows the wrong way. But so what? My clients still pay me well."

"What clients?" Percy demanded.

"Oh, you'd be surprised how many people will pay for a flesh-eating horse. They make great garbage disposals. Wonderful way to terrify your enemies. Great at birthday parties! We rent them out all the time."

"You're a monster." Annabeth decided.

Geryon stopped the moo-mobile and turned to look at her. "What gave it away? Was it the three bodies?"

"You have to let these animals go!" Vitani deamnded. "It's not right!"

"And the clients you keep talking about." Luke said. "You work for Kronos, don't you? You're supplying his army with horses, food, whatever they need."

Geryon shrugged, which was very weird since he had three sets of shoulders. It looked like he was doing the wave all by himself. "I work for anyone with gold, young man. I'm a businessman. And I sell them anything I have to offer."

He climbed out of the moo-mobile and strolled toward the stables as if enjoying the fresh air. It would've been a nice view, with the river and the trees and hills and all, except for the quagmire of horse muck.

Nico got out of the back car and stormed over to Geryon. The cowherd Eurytion wasn't as sleepy as he looked. He hefted his club and walked after Nico.

"I came here for business, Geryon," Nico said. "And you haven't answered me."

"Mmm." Geryon examined a cactus. His left arm reached over and scratched his middle-chest. "Yes, you'll get a deal, all right."

"My ghost told me you could help. He said you could guide us to the soul we need."

"Wait a second." Percy said. "I thought  _I_ was the soul you wanted."

Nico looked at the son of Poseidon as if he was crazy. "You? Why would I want you? Bianca's soul is worth a thousand of yours! Now, can you help me, Geryon, or not?"

"Oh, I imagine I could." the rancher said. "Your ghost friend, by the way, where is he?"

Nico looked uneasy. "He can't form in broad daylight. It's hard for him. But he's around somewhere."

Geryon smiled. "I'm sure. Minos likes to disappear when things get…difficult."

" _Minos?"_ Percy remembered the man from his dreams, with the golden crown, the pointed beard, and the cruel eyes. "You mean that evil king?  _That's_ the ghost who's been giving you advice?"

"It's none of your business, Percy!" Nico turned back to Geryon. "And what do you mean about things getting difficult?"

The three-bodied man sighed. "Well, you see, Nico—can I call you Nico?"

"No."

"You see, Nico, Ethan Nakamura is offering very good money for half-bloods. Especially powerful half-bloods. And I'm sure when he learns your little secret, who you really are, he'll pay very, very well indeed."

Nico drew his sword, but Eurytion knocked it out of his hand. Before Percy could get up, Orthus pounced on my chest and growled, his faces an inch away from his face.

"I would stay in the car, all of you." Geryon warned. "Or Orthus will tear Mr. Jackson's throat out. Now, Eurytion, if you would be so kind, secure Nico."

The cowherd spit into the grass. "Do I have to?"

"Yes, you fool!"

Eurytion looked bored, but he wrapped one huge arm around Nico and lifted him up like a wrestler.

Meanwhile, Vitani very subtly took out a Clow card.

"Pick up the sword, too." Geryon said with distaste. "There's nothing I hate worse than Stygian Iron."

Eurytion picked up the sword, careful not to touch the blade.

"Now," Geryon said cheerfully, "we've had the tour. Let's go back to the lodge, have some lunch, and send an Iris-message to our friends in the Titan army."

"You fiend!" Annabeth cried.

Geryon smiled at her. "Don't worry, my dear. Once I've delivered Mr. Di Angelo, you and your party can go. I don't interfere with quests. Besides, I've been paid well to give you safe passage, which does not, I'm afraid, include Mr. Di Angelo."

"Paid by whom?" Annabeth said. "What do you mean?"

"Never you mind, darlin'. Let's be off, shall we?"

"Time! Freeze!" Vitani commanded, activating her Clow card.

Time then literally froze, and Vitani wasted no time in pulling Nico from Eurytion's grip and Percy from Orthus' paws.

"Incarcerous!"

Ropes then bound Eurytion, Orthus, and Geryon. She bound them all tightly, to ensure there was no escape. She even muzzled Orthus.

"Unfreeze!" Vitani said, as time unfroze, her Clow card returned to her and everyone gasped.

"H-How? Let me go this instant!" Geryon snarled.

Orthus growled and whined from his bound and muzzled form.

Eurytion said nothing, he was in shock.

"How did you do that?" Annabeth said, looking Vitani before turning to Nico and Percy. "They were there, but now they're here!"

"A special trick." Vitani winked, but she felt the drain. Stopping time took a lot of magic, but thankfully, she still had plenty more.

"Good job, Vitani!" Grover cheered.

"Vitani is fast!" Tyson gasped.

"Finally." Eurytion said. "I've been waiting for thousands years."

"What?" Luke asked.

"I've worked for that creep for thousands of years. Started as a regular half-blood, but I chose immortality when my dad offered it. Worst mistake I ever made. Now I'm stuck here at this ranch. I can't leave. I can't quit. I just tend the cows and fight Geryon's fights. We're kinda tied together."

Vitani narrowed her eyes at him, but sensed that he was telling the truth.

"Eurytion, you traitor!" Geryon screamed.

"Shut up!" Vitani snapped. "Silencio!"

Geryon's mouth moved, but no sound came out of his mouth. He looked at Vitani in panic when he realized this.

"Maybe you can change things." Percy said.

Eurytion narrowed his eyes. "How?"

"Be nice to the animals. Take care of them. Stop selling them for food. And stop dealing with the Titans."

Eurytion thought about that. "That'd be all right."

"Get the animals on your side, and they'll help you. Geryon will be working for you this time." Percy said.

"And he will, if he Apollo doesn't smite him. I'm going to be telling his demigod children, who in turn will tell their father what was happening here." Vitani said.

Eurytion grinned. "Now,  _that_ I could live with."

"You won't try to stop us leaving?" Luke asked warily.

"Shoot, no. Besides, if I did, your wife there would put me in my place."

"Your boss said somebody paid for our safe passage. Who?" Annabeth asked suspiciously.

The cowherd shrugged. "Maybe he was just saying that to fool you."

Nico glared at Percy.

"You could stay here until we're done with our quest." Percy told him. "It would be safe."

" _Safe?"_ Nico said. "What do you care if I'm safe? You got my sister killed!"

"Nico," Annabeth said, "that wasn't Percy's fault. And Geryon wasn't lying about Kronos wanting to capture you. If he knew who you were, he'd do anything to get you on his side."

"I'm not on anyone's side. And I'm not afraid."

"You should be," Annabeth said. "Your sister wouldn't want—"

"If you cared for my sister, you'd help me bring her back!"

"A soul for a soul?" Percy said.

"Yes!"

"But if you didn't want my soul—"

"I'm not explaining anything to you!" He blinked tears out of his eyes. "And I  _will_ bring her back."

"Bianca wouldn't want to be brought back." Percy said. "Not like that."

"You didn't know her!" he shouted. "How do you know what she'd want?"

"Let's ask Bianca." Vitani said suddenly.

"I've tried," Nico said miserably. "She won't answer."

"I'll call her then." Vitani said.

"What? You can do that? I can't do that!" Nico exclaimed.

"How?" Annabeth asked.

"Let me tell you a very special story. The tale of the three brothers." Vitani said, conjuring chairs for all of them to sit down in. She then knocked out Geryon, she didn't want him to know about this story.

With a wave of her wand, thick smoke billowed into the air.

"There were once three brothers who were travelling a lonely winding road at twilight, or midnight. In time, they reached a river that was too treacherous to pass."

Three figures appeared in the smoke, like a shadow puppet theatre. Everyone was silent as they watched the three brothers reach the river.

"But being gifted in the magical arts, the three simply waved their wands and made a bridge."

The three brothers waved their wands and a bridge grew over the river. One of the brothers attempted to cross the bridge but stopped when something blocked their way.

"Before they could cross their bridge however, they found their path blocked by a hooded figure. It was Death, and he felt cheated."

A hooded skeletal figure appeared on the bridge.

"Cheated because travellers would normally drown in the river, but Death was cunning. He pretended to congratulate the three brothers on their magic. And he said that each of them earned a prize for being clever enough to evade him. The eldest brother asked for a wand more powerful than any in existence. So Death fashioned him one from an Elder tree that stood nearby."

Death broke a branch off the Elder tree beside him and handed it to the eldest brother.

"The second brother decided that he wanted to humiliate Death even further, and asked for the power to recall loved ones from the grave. So death plucked a stone from the river and offered it to him."

Death then reached down and picked up a stone from the river before giving it to the second brother.

"Finally, Death turned to the third brother. The third brother was the smartest and the most humble of the three, so he asked for something that would hide him from death until he was ready to pass on. And so it was that Death reluctantly handed over his own cloak of invisibility."

They watched as Death took off his cloak and gave it to the third brother. Then the three brothers left and went on their separate ways.

"The first brother travelled to a distant village, with the Elder wand in hand, he killed a wizard he had once quarrelled and lost to."

The smoke showed the third brother blasting a man.

"Drunk with the power of the Elder wand had given him, he bragged of his invincibility thanks to his wand. But that night, another wizard stole the wand and slit the third brother's throat while he was sleeping. And so Death took the first brother for his own."

The smoke showed the third brother sleeping before being stabbed from above by another shadowy figure before the figure made off with the wand.

"The second brother journeyed home, where he turned the stone thrice in hand. To his delight, the girl he once hoped to marry before her untimely death appeared before him. Yet soon she turned sad and cold, for she did not belong in the mortal world. Driven mad by his hopeless longing, the second brother killed himself to join her. And so Death took the second brother."

The second brother turned the stone three times in his hand and a shadowy form of a girl appeared. But soon the scene changed as the second brother hung himself to join his lover in death.

"As for the third brother, Death searched for many years but was never able to find him."

The smoke showed Death looking left and right for the youngest brother.

"Only when the youngest brother had reached a great age did the he shed the cloak of invisibility and gave it to his son. He then greeted Death as an old friend and went with him gladly, departing this life as equals."

They watched as the third brother took off his cloak and gave it to his son before departing with Death. Then the smoke dissipated.

**(A/N: to watch the story, go to youtube and search it up. It's from a scene from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1)**

"The three objects once owned by the three brothers were then called the Deathly Hallows." Vitani swallowed. "The invisibility cloak."

Vitani pulled out a very familiar looking cloak. Everyone except Luke looked at it with wide eyes.

"The Resurrection stone."

She then pulled out a small black stone. Nico eyed it hungrily.

"And the Elder Wand."

Finally, Vitani pulled out the Elder wand.

"Who ever is said to own all three will become the Master of Death."

"Thanatos' champion. That's what you meant!" Annabeth gasped. "I've always wondered but..."

Nico tried to snatch the stone, but Vitani held it away from him.

"I will call Bianca, but I must warn you, she is only a spirit, and echo of her true self. The dead are not meant to come back to life." Vitani said.

She then stood and turned the stone three times in her hand.


	31. Chapter 31

Everyone waited until a spirit appeared, and it was indeed Bianca.

"Hello." Bianca said.

"Bianca." Percy swallowed. "I'm so sorry."

"Me too." Vitani said.

"You have nothing to apologize for, Percy, Vitani. It was my own fault."

"Bianca!" Nico stammered out, as if in a daze.

She turned toward her brother. Her expression was sad, as if she'd been dreading this moment. "Hello, Nico. You've gotten so tall."

"Why didn't you answer me?" he cried. "I've been trying for months!"

"I was hoping that you'd give up."

"Give up?" He said, heartbroken. "How can you say that? I'm trying to save you!"

"You can't, Nico. Don't do this. Percy and Vitani are right."

"No! Percy let you die! He's not your friend!"

Bianca reached out to touch her brother's face, but her handed ended up going through him.

"You must listen to me." She said. "Holding a grudge is dangerous for a child of Hades. It is our fatal flaw. You have to forgive. You have to promise me this."

"I can't. Never."

"Percy has been worried about you, Nico. He can help. I let him see what you were up to, hoping he would find you."

"So it  _was_ you." Percy said. "You sent those Iris-messages."

Bianca nodded.

"Why are you helping him and not me?" Nico screamed. "It's not fair!"

"You are close to the truth now." Bianca told him. "It's not Percy you're mad at, Nico. It's me."

"No."

"You're mad because I left you to become a Hunter of Artemis. You're mad because I died and left you alone. I'm sorry for that, Nico. I truly am. But you must overcome the anger. And stop blaming Percy for my choices. It will be your doom."

"She's right." Annabeth broke in. "Kronos is rising, Nico. He'll twist anyone he can to his cause."

"I don't care about Kronos." Nico said. "I just want my sister back."

"You can't have that, Nico " Bianca told him gently.

"I'm the son of Hades! I  _can_."

"Don't try." She said. "If you love me, don't…"

Her voice trailed off.

"Tartarus stirs." Bianca said. "Your power draws the attention of Kronos when you try to summon me. I must return."

"Wait." Nico said. "Please—"

"Good-bye, Nico." Bianca said. "I love you. Remember what I said."

Bianca then faded away.

As none of them were anxious to travel that evening, they decided to wait until morning. Eurytion, after he was released from the ropes, offered to let them stay in the living room.

Vitani was even kind enough to clean out the Flesh eating horse stables by using overpowered vanishing spells with her elder wand. She had to cast the spell about ten times, but at least the stables were now clean. She had also put a special bracelet on Geryon, if he didn't obey Eurytion's orders, then he was to be given a nasty shock.

Grover and Percy crashed on the leather couches, Vitani and Luke were going to use a memory foam mattress that she had packed. The witch also gave Tyson and Annabeth some sleeping bags to use.

Vitani collapsed on her mattress, exhausted from the amount of magic she had used that day. Luke slid beside her and tucked them in tightly, making sure his wife was comfortable before going to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, everyone walked down to the cattle guard and said their goodbyes.

"Nico, you could come with us." Percy offered.

He shook his head. No one had really slept well in the demon ranch house other than Vitani, who had only slept out of exhaustion.

"I need time to think." Nico said, not meeting Percy's eyes.

"Nico." Annabeth said. "Bianca just wants you to be okay."

She put a hand on his shoulder, but he pulled away and trudged back to the ranch house.

"I'm worried about him." Annabeth said. "If he starts talking to Minos' ghost again-"

"He'll be all right." Eurytion promised. The cowherd had cleaned up nicely. He was wearing new jeans and a clean Western shirt and he'd even trimmed his beard. He also put on Geryon's boots. "The boy can stay here and gather his thoughts as long as he wants. He'll be safe, I promise."

"What about you?" Luke asked.

Eurytion scratched Orthus behind one chin, then the other. "Things are going to be run a little different on this ranch from now on. No more sacred cattle meat. I'm thinking about soybean patties. And I'm going to befriend those flesh-eating horses. Might just sign up for the next rodeo."

"Well, good luck." Vitani smiled.

"Yep." Eurytion spit into the grass. "I reckon you'll be looking for Daedalus's workshop now?"

Annabeth's eyes lit up. "Can you help us?"

Eurytion studied the cattle guard. "Don't know where it is. But Hephaestus probably would."

"That's what Hera said." Annabeth agreed. "But how do we find  _Hephaestus_?"

Eurytion pulled something from under the collar of his shirt. It was a necklace—a smooth silver disk on a silver chain. The disk had a depression on the middle, like a thumbprint. He handed it to Annabeth.

"Hephaestus comes here from time to time." Eurytion said. "Studies the animals and such so he can make bronze automaton copies. Last time, I— uh—did him a favor. A little trick he wanted to play on my dad, Ares, and Aphrodite. He gave me that chain in gratitude. Said if I ever needed to find him, the disk would lead me to his forges. But only once."

"And you're giving it to me?" Annabeth asked.

Eurytion blushed. "I don't need to see the forges, miss. Got enough to do here. Just press the button and you'll be on your way."

Annabeth pressed the button and the disk sprang to life. It grew eight metallic legs. Annabeth shrieked and dropped it, much to Eurytion's confusion.

"Spider!" She screamed.

Luke burst out laughing.

"She's, um, a little scared of spiders." Grover explained. "That old grudge between Athena and Arachne."

"Oh." Eurytion looked a little embarrassed. "Sorry, miss."

The spider scrambled to the cattle guard and disappeared between the bars.

"Hurry." Percy urged. "That thing's not going to wait for us."

Annabeth wasn't anxious to follow, but they didn't have much choice.

After they had all said their good-byes to Eurytion, Tyson pulled the cattle guard off the hole, and they dropped back into the maze.

The mechanical spider scuttled along the tunnels so fast, most of time they couldn't even see it. If it hadn't been for Tyson's and Grover's excellent hearing, they never would've known which way it was going.

They ran down a marble tunnel, then dashed to the left and almost fell into an abyss. Tyson grabbed Percy and hauled him back before he could fall. The tunnel continued in front of them, but there was no floor for about a hundred feet, just gaping darkness and a series of iron rungs in the ceiling. The mechanical spider was about halfway across, swinging from bar to bar by shooting out metal web fibre.

"Monkey bars." Annabeth said. "I'm great at these."

She leaped onto the first rung and started swinging her way across. She was scared of tiny spiders, but not of plummeting to her death from a set of monkey bars. Go figure.

Annabeth got to the opposite side and ran after the spider. Percy followed.

When he got across, he looked back and saw Tyson giving Grover a piggyback ride (or was it a goatyback ride?). The big guy made it across in three swings, which was a good thing since, just as he landed, the last iron bar ripped free under his weight.

"How're you guys supposed to cross now?" Percy asked.

Luke chuckled and lifted Vitani into his arms. "Maia!"

His shoes sprouted wings and he easily flew across with Vitani.

"Oh."

They kept moving and passed a skeleton crumpled in the tunnel. It was the remains of a dress shirt, slacks, and a tie. The spider didn't slow down. Percy soon slipped on a pile of wood scraps, but when he shined a light on them he realized they were pencils—hundreds of them, all broken in half.

The tunnel opened up onto a large room. A blazing light hit them, making them shield their eyes. Once their eyes adjusted, the first thing they noticed were the skeletons. Dozens littered the floor around them.

Some were old and bleached white. Others were more recent and a lot grosser. They didn't smell quite as bad as Geryon's stables, but almost.

"A sphinx." Vitani sighed.

The sphinx the body of a huge lion and the head of a woman.

She would've been pretty, but her hair was tied back in a tight bun and she wore too much makeup. She had a blue ribbon badge pinned to her chest that took me a moment to read: THIS MONSTER HAS BEEN RATED EXEMPLARY!

Tyson whimpered in fear. When Tyson was small, he had been attacked by a Sphinx's paws and disappeared. Percy patted his half brother's back in comfort.

Annabeth started forward, but the Sphinx roared, showing fangs in her otherwise human face. Bars came down on both tunnel exits, behind them and in front.

Immediately the monster's snarl turned into a brilliant smile.

"Welcome, lucky contestants!" she announced. "Get ready to play…ANSWER THAT RIDDLE!"

Canned applause blasted from the ceiling, as if there were invisible loudspeakers. Spotlights swept across the room and reflected off the dais, throwing disco glitter over the skeletons on the floor.

"Fabulous prizes!" the Sphinx said. "Pass the test, and you get to advance! Fail, and I get to eat you! Who will be our contestant?"

"I've got this." Annabeth whispered. "I know what she's going to ask."

"Good, because I hate riddles. I was lucky to get the question right from the last sphinx I ever encountered." Vitani shivered.

Annabeth stepped forward to the contestant's podium, which had a skeleton in a school uniform hunched over it. She pushed the skeleton out of the way, and it clattered to the floor.

"Sorry." Annabeth told it.

"Welcome, Annabeth Chase!" the monster cried, though Annabeth hadn't said her name. "Are you ready for your test?"

"Yes." she said. "Ask your riddle."

"Twenty riddles, actually!" the Sphinx said gleefully.

"What? But back in the old days—"

"Oh, we've raised our standards! To pass, you must show proficiency in all twenty. Isn't that great?"

Applause switched on and off like somebody turning a faucet.

Annabeth glanced at her friends nervously, but they all gave her an encouraging nod.

"Okay." She told the Sphinx. "I'm ready."

A drumroll sounded from above. The Sphinx's eyes glittered with excitement. "What…is the capital of Bulgaria?"

Annabeth frowned.

"Sofia," she said, "but—"

"Correct!" More canned applause. The Sphinx smiled so widely her fangs showed. "Please be sure to mark your answer clearly on your test sheet with a number 2 pencil."

"What?" Annabeth looked mystified. Then a test booklet appeared on the podium in front of her, along with a sharpened pencil.

"Make sure you bubble each answer clearly and stay inside the circle." the Sphinx said. "If you have to erase, erase completely or the machine will not be able to read your answers."

"What machine?" Annabeth asked.

The Sphinx pointed with her paw. Over by the spotlight was a bronze box with a bunch of gears and levers and a big Greek letter Eta on the side, the mark of Hephaestus.

"Now," said the Sphinx, "next question—"

"Wait a second." Annabeth protested. "What about 'What walks on four legs in the morning'?"

"I beg your pardon?" the Sphinx said, clearly annoyed now.

"The riddle about the man. He walks on four legs in the morning, like a baby, two legs in the afternoon, like an adult, and three legs in the evening, as an old man with a cane. That's the riddle you used to ask."

"Exactly why we changed the test!" the Sphinx exclaimed. "You already knew the answer. Now second question, what is the square root of sixteen?"

"Four," Annabeth said, "but—"

"Correct! Which U.S. president signed the Emancipation Proclamation?"

"Abraham Lincoln, but—"

"Correct! Riddle number four. How much—"

"Hold up!" Annabeth shouted. "These aren't riddles."

"What do you mean?" the sphinx snapped. "Of course they are. This test material is specially designed—"

"It's just a bunch of dumb, random facts," Annabeth insisted. "Riddles are supposed to make you think."

"Think?" The Sphinx frowned. "How am I supposed to test whether you can think? That's ridiculous! Now, how much force is required—"

"Stop!" Annabeth insisted. "This is a stupid test."

"Um, Annabeth." Grover cut in nervously. "Maybe you should just, you know, finish first and complain later?"

"I'm a child of Athena," she insisted. "And this is an insult to my intelligence. I won't answer these questions."

"Oh no! Her fatal flaw!" Luke groaned.

"Hubris!" Percy panicked.

The spotlights glared. The Sphinx's eyes glittered pure black.

"Why then, my dear." the monster said calmly. "If you won't pass, you fail. And since we can't allow any children to be held back, you'll be EATEN!"

The Sphinx bared her claws, which gleamed like stainless steel. She pounced at the podium.

"No!" Tyson charged. He hated it when people threaten Annabeth, but Percy couldn't believe he was being so brave, especially since he'd had such a bad experience with a Sphinx before.

He tackled the Sphinx in midair and they crashed sideways into a pile of bones. This gave Annabeth just enough time to gather her wits and draw her knife. Tyson got up, his shirt clawed to shreds. The Sphinx growled, looking for an opening.

Percy drew Riptide and stepped in front of Annabeth with Luke doing the same with Vitani.

But Vitani refused to hide away and instead shot a blasting curse at the Sphinx. The monster roared in pain when the curse blew off one of her legs.

"Run!" Vitani shouted before they ran into the far tunnel.

"Sorry, guys!" Annabeth winced. "I should've just answered the questions."

"You think?!" Percy and Luke shouted.

* * *

Most of the group thought they had lost the spider until Tyson heard a faint pinging sound. A few turns were made, along with a few backtracks, but they eventually found the spider banging its tiny head on a metal door.

The door looked like one of those old-fashioned submarine hatches—oval, with metal rivets around the edges and a wheel for a doorknob. Where the portal should've been was a big brass plaque, green with age, with a Greek Eta inscribed in the middle.

They all looked at each other.

"Ready to meet Hephaestus?" Grover said nervously.

"No." Percy admitted.

"Yes." Vitani nodded.

"YES!" Tyson said gleefully before turning the wheel.

As soon as the door opened, the spider scuttled inside with Tyson right behind it. Vitani followed with Luke before the last three followed up, not quite as anxious.


	32. Chapter 32

The room was enormous. It looked like a mechanic's garage, with several hydraulic lifts. Some had cars on them, but others had stranger things: a bronze hippalektryon with its horse head off and a bunch of wires hanging out its rooster tail, a metal lion that seemed to be hooked up to a battery charger, and a Greek war chariot made entirely of flames.

Smaller projects cluttered a dozen worktables. Tools hung along the walls.

Each had its own outline on a Peg-Board, but nothing seemed to be in the right place. The hammer was over the screwdriver place. The staple gun was where the hacksaw was supposed to go. Under the nearest hydraulic lift, which was holding a '98 Toyota Corolla, a pair of legs stuck out—the lower half of a huge man in grubby grey pants and shoes even bigger than Tyson's. One leg was in a metal brace.

The spider scuttled straight under the car, and the sounds of banging stopped.

"Well, well." A deep voice boomed from under the Corolla. "What have we here?"

The mechanic pushed out on a back trolley and sat up.

He wore a jumpsuit smeared with oil and grime.  _Hephaestus,_ was embroidered over the chest pocket. His leg creaked and clicked in its metal brace as he stood, and his left shoulder was lower than his right, so he seemed to be leaning even when he was standing up straight. His head was misshapen and bulging. He wore a permanent scowl. His black beard smoked and hissed. Every once in a while a small wildfire would erupt in his whiskers then die out. His hands were the size of catcher's mitts, but he handled the spider with amazing skill. He disassembled it in two seconds, then put it back together.

"There." he muttered to himself. "Much better."

The spider did a happy flip in his palm, shot a metallic web at the ceiling, and went swinging away.

Hephaestus glowered up at them. "I didn't make you, did I?"

"Uh," Annabeth said, "no, sir."

"Good." the god grumbled. "Shoddy workmanship."

Percy, Annabeth and Luke all looked slightly offended by the god's comment.

He studied the four demigods. "Half-bloods," he grunted. "Could be automatons, of course, but probably not."

"We've met, sir." Percy told him.

"Have we?" the god asked absently. "Well then, if I didn't smash you to a pulp the first time we met, I suppose I won't have to do it now."

He looked at Grover and frowned. "Satyr." Then he looked at Tyson, and his eyes twinkled. "Well, a Cyclops. Good, good. What are you doing travelling with this lot?"

"Uh…" said Tyson, staring in wonder at the god. Vitani was doing the same thing, deep down, she wished she could build stuff like automatons. But she had her magic, it was good enough.

"Yes, well said." Hephaestus agreed. "So, there'd better be a good reason you're disturbing me. The suspension on this Corolla is no small matter, you know."

"Sir," Annabeth said hesitantly, "we're looking for Daedalus. We thought—"

" _Daedalus?"_ the god roared. "You want that old scoundrel? You dare to seek him out!"

His beard burst into flames and his black eyes glowed.

"Uh, yes, sir, please." Annabeth squeaked.

"Humph. You're wasting your time." He frowned at something on his worktable and limped over to it. He picked up a lump of springs and metal plates and tinkered with them. In a few seconds he was holding a bronze and silver falcon. It spread its metal wings, blinked its obsidian eyes, and flew around the room.

Tyson laughed and clapped his hands. The bird landed on Tyson's shoulder and nipped his ear affectionately while Vitani looked at the bird in awe.

Hephaestus regarded him. The god's scowl didn't change, but a kinder twinkle set in his eyes. "I sense you have something to tell me, Cyclops."

Tyson's smile faded. "Y-yes, lord. We met a Hundred-Handed One."

Hephaestus nodded, looking unsurprised. "Briares?"

"Yes. He—he was scared. He would not help us."

"And that bothered you."

"Yes!" Tyson's voice wavered. "Briares should be strong! He is older and greater than Cyclopes. But he ran away."

Hephaestus grunted. "There was a time I admired the Hundred-Handed Ones. Back in the days of the first war. But people, monsters, even gods change, young Cyclops. You can't trust 'em. Look at my loving mother, Hera. You met her, didn't you? She'll smile to your face and talk about how important family is, eh? Didn't stop her from pitching me off Mount Olympus when she saw my ugly face."

"But I thought Zeus did that to you." Percy said.

Hephaestus cleared his throat and spat into a bronze spittoon. He snapped his fingers, and the robotic falcon flew back to the worktable.

"Mother likes telling that version of the story." he grumbled. "Makes her seem more likeable, doesn't it? Blaming it all on my dad. The truth is, my mother likes families, but she likes a certain kind of family.  _Perfect_ families. She took one look at me and…well, I don't fit the image, do I?"

"She doesn't deserve to be a mother for what she had done to you." Vitani scowled.

Hephaestus eyed the witch with an interested glint in his eye.

He pulled a feather from the falcon's back, and the whole automaton fell apart.

"Believe me, young Cyclops," Hephaestus said, "you can't trust others. All you can trust is the work of your own hands."

It seemed like a pretty lonely way to live.

He focused on Percy and Luke and narrowed his eyes, as if he were reading their thoughts. "Oh, these ones, they don't like me." he mused.

Vitani looked up at Luke and whacked him over the head, scowling. Luke gave an apologetic look, but said nothing.

"No worries, I'm used to that, young lady. What would you ask of me, little demigods?"

"We told you." Luke said. "We need to find Daedalus. There's this guy, Ethan, and he's working for Kronos. He's trying to find a way to navigate the Labyrinth so he can invade our camp. If we don't get to Daedalus first—"

"And I told  _you_ , boy. Looking for Daedalus is a waste of time. He won't help you."

"Why not?"

Hephaestus shrugged. "Some of us get thrown off mountainsides. Some of us … the way we learn not to trust people is more painful. Ask me for gold. Or a flaming sword. Or a magical steed. These I can grant you easily. But a way to Daedalus? That's an expensive favor."

"You know where he is, then." Annabeth pressed.

"It isn't wise to go looking, girl."

"My mother says looking is the nature of wisdom."

Hephaestus narrowed his eyes. "Who's your mother, then?"

"Athena."

"Figures." He sighed. "Fine goddess, Athena. A shame she pledged never to marry. All right, half-blood. I can tell you what you want to know. But there is a price. I need a favor done."

"Name it." Annabeth said.

Hephaestus actually laughed—a booming sound like a huge bellows stoking a fire. "You heroes," he said, "always making rash promises. How refreshing!"

He pressed a button on his workbench, and metal shutters opened along the wall. It was either a huge window or a big-screen TV. It showed a grey mountain ringed in forests. It must've been a volcano, because smoke rose from its crest.

"One of my forges." Hephaestus said. "I have many, but that used to be my favourite."

"That's Mount St. Helen's." Grover said. "Great forests around there."

"You've been there?" Vitani asked.

"Looking for…you know, Pan."

"Oh."

"Wait." Annabeth said, looking at Hephaestus. "You said it  _used to be_ your favourite. What happened?"

Hephaestus scratched his smouldering beard. "Well, that's where the monster Typhon is trapped, you know. Used to be under Mount Etna, but when we moved to America, his force got pinned under Mount St. Helen's instead. Great source of fire, but a bit dangerous. There's always a chance he will escape. Lots of eruptions these days, smouldering all the time. He's restless with the Titan rebellion."

"What do you want us to do?" Percy asked. "Fight him?"

Hephaestus snorted. "That would be suicide. The gods themselves ran from Typhon when he was free. No, pray you never have to see him, much less fight him. But lately I have sensed intruders in my mountain. Someone or something is using my forges. When I go there, it is empty, but I can tell it is being used. They sense me coming, and they disappear. I send my automatons to investigate, but they do not return. Something … ancient is there. Evil. I want to know who dares invade my territory, and if they mean to free Typhon."

"You want us to find out who it is." Luke said.

"Aye." Hephaestus said. "Go there. They may not sense you coming. You are not gods."

"Glad you noticed." Percy muttered.

"Go and find out what you can." Hephaestus said. "Report back to me, and I will tell you what you need to know about Daedalus."

"All right." Annabeth said. "How do we get there?"

Hephaestus clapped his hands. The spider came swinging down from the rafters. Annabeth flinched when it landed at her feet.

"My creation will show you the way." Hephaestus said. "It is not far through the Labyrinth. And try to stay alive, will you? Humans are much more fragile than automatons."

* * *

The group was doing okay until they hit the tree roots. The spider raced along with everyone keeping up after it, but then they spotted a tunnel off to the side that was dug from raw earth, and wrapped in thick roots. Grover stopped dead in his tracks.

"What is it?" Percy said.

He didn't move. He stared, open mouthed, into the dark tunnel. His curly hair rustled in the breeze.

"Come on!" Annabeth said. "We have to keep moving."

"This is the way." Grover muttered in awe. "This is it."

"What way?" Luke asked. "You mean…to Pan?"

Grover looked at Tyson. "Don't you smell it?"

"Dirt," Tyson said. "And plants."

"And I can sense nature magic..." Vitani said.

"Yes! This is the way. I'm sure of it!"

Up ahead, the spider was getting farther down the stone corridor. A few more seconds and they'd lose it.

"We'll come back." Annabeth promised. "On our way back to Hephaestus."

"The tunnel will be gone by then." Grover said. "I have to follow it. A door like this won't stay open!"

"But we can't." Annabeth protested. "The forges!"

Grover looked at her sadly. "I have to, Annabeth. Don't you understand?"

She looked desperate, like she didn't understand at all.

The spider was almost out of sight.

"We'll split up." Vitani said.

"No!" Annabeth said. "That's way too dangerous. How will we ever find each other again? And Grover can't go alone."

Tyson put his hand on Grover's shoulder. "I—I will go with him."

"Tyson, are you sure?" Percy asked, surprised.

The big guy nodded. "Goat boy needs help. We will find the god person. I am not like Hephaestus. I trust friends."

Grover took a deep breath. "Percy, we'll find each other again. We've still got the empathy link. I just … have to."

"I hope you're right." Percy said.

"I know I am."

"Be careful." Vitani said.

Tyson gave Percy a crushing hug, sobbing.

Then he and Grover disappeared through the tunnel of tree roots and were lost in the darkness.

"This is bad." Annabeth said. "Splitting up is a really, really bad idea."

"We'll see them again." Percy said, trying to sound confident. "Now come on. The spider is getting away!"

It wasn't long before the tunnel started to get hot.

The stone walls glowed. The air felt as if they were walking through an oven, but Vitani helpfully cooled them down by casting cooling charms. The tunnel sloped down and everyone could hear a loud roar, like a river of metal. The spider skittered along, with Annabeth right behind.

"Hey, wait up." Percy called to her.

She glanced back at me. "Yeah?"

"Something Hephaestus said back there…about Athena."

"She swore never to marry." Annabeth said. "Like Artemis and Hestia. She's one of the maiden goddesses."

"But then—"

"How come she has demigod children?"

Percy nodded.

"Percy, you know how Athena was born?"

"She sprung from the head of Zeus in full battle armour or something."

"Exactly. She wasn't born in the normal way. She was literally born from thoughts. Her children are born the same way. When Athena falls in love with a mortal man, it's purely intellectual, the way she loved Odysseus in the old stories. It's a meeting of minds. She would tell you that's the purest kind of love."

"So your dad and Athena…so you weren't…"

"I was a brain child." Annabeth said. "Literally. Children of Athena are sprung from the divine thoughts of our mother and the mortal ingenuity of our father. We are supposed to be a gift, a blessing from Athena on the men she favours."

"But—"

"Percy, the spider's getting away. Do you really want me to explain the exact details of how I was born?"

"Um…no. That's okay."

She smirked. "I thought not."

Vitani and Luke shared a smile before following Annabeth as she ran ahead.

The roaring got louder. After another half mile or so, they emerged in a cavern the size of a Super Bowl stadium. The spider escort stopped and curled into a ball. They had arrived at the forge of Hephaestus.

There was no floor, just bubbling lava hundreds of feet below. The group stood on a rock ridge that circled the cavern. A network of metal bridges spanned across it. At the centre was a huge platform with all sorts of machines, cauldrons, forges, and the largest anvil anyone had ever seen—a block of iron the size of a house. Creatures moved around the platform—several strange, dark shapes, but they were too far away to make out details.

Annabeth picked up the metal spider and slipped it into her pocket.

"I can go. Wait here."

"Hold it!" Percy said, but before he could argue, she put on her Yankees cap and turned invisible.

"Great, what now?" Luke asked.

The three remaining couldn't stand still with their ADHD, so they went to explore.

The trio soon found their way blocked by a cart on metal wheels, like the kind they use in mine shafts. Luke lifted up the tarp and found it was half full of scrap metal. They were about to squeeze my way around it when they heard voices from up ahead, probably from a side tunnel.

"Bring it in?" one asked.

"Yeah," another said. "Movie's just about done."

Luke and Percy then jumped into the cart. The son of Hermes was about to pull his wife in as well, but she was gone. Most likely under a disillusionment spell.

The cart then lurched forward.

"Oi," a gruff voice said. "Thing weighs a ton."

"It's celestial bronze." the other said. "What did you expect?"

Luke and Percy were silent as the cart was pushed along before finally coming to a stop.

"Just set it in the back." a new voice ordered from across the room. "Now, younglings, please attend to the film. There will be time for questions afterward."

The voices quieted down, and they could hear the film.

 _As a young sea demon matures,_ the narrator said,  _changes happen in the monster's body. You may notice your fangs getting longer and you may have a sudden desire to devour human beings. These changes are perfectly normal and happen to all young monsters._

Excited snarling filled the room. The teacher told the younglings to be quiet, and the film continued. The film kept talking about growth spurts and acne problems caused by working in the forges, and proper flipper hygiene, and finally it was over.

"Now, younglings," the instructor said, "what is the proper name of our kind?"

"Sea demons!" One of them barked.

"No. Anyone else?"

"Telekhines!" another monster growled.

"Very good," the instructor said. "And why are we here?"

"Revenge!" several shouted.

"Yes, yes, but why?"

"Zeus is evil!" one monster said. "He cast us into Tartarus just because we used magic!"

"Indeed." the instructor said. "After we made so many of the gods' finest weapons. The trident of Poseidon, for one. And of course—we made the greatest weapon of the Titans! Nevertheless, Zeus cast us away and relied on those fumbling Cyclopes. That is why we are taking over the forges of the usurper Hephaestus. And soon we will control the undersea furnaces, our ancestral home!"

Percy clutched his pen-sword and Luke gripped Backbiter.

"And so, younglings." the instructor continued, "Who do we serve?"

"Kronos!" they shouted.

"And when you grow to be big telekhines, will you make weapons for the army?"

"Yes!"

"Excellent. Now, we've brought in some scraps for you to practice with. Let's see how ingenious you are."

There was a rush of movement and excited voices coming toward the cart.

The tarp was then thrown back. Luke and Percy jumped up, and found themselves facing a bunch of…dogs.

Well, their faces were dogs, anyway, with black snouts, brown eyes, and pointy ears. Their bodies were sleek and black like sea mammals, with stubby legs that were half flipper, half foot, and humanlike hands with sharp claws. If you blended together a kid, a Doberman pinscher, and a sea lion, you'd get something like what they was looking at.

"Two demigods!" one snarled.

"Eat them!" yelled another.

But that's as far as they got before Percy slashed a wide arc with Riptide and vaporized the entire front row of monsters. Luke did the same and killed more of the monsters.

"Back off!" Luke yelled at the rest.

"New lesson, class." Percy announced. "Most monsters will vaporize when sliced with a celestial bronze sword. This change is perfectly normal, and will happen to you  _right now_ if you don't BACK OFF!"

The monsters backed up, but there were at least twenty of them. But Percy's fear factor wasn't going to last long.

"CLASS DISMISSED!" Percy yelled before he and Luke jumped out of the carts and ran for the exit.

The monsters charged after them, barking and growling.

"Annabeth!" Percy yelled.

Luke was about to call for his wife when Percy's mouth clamped shut.

"SHHH! You want to get us killed?" Annabeth snapped.

Vitani and Annabeth then reappeared. Luke wasted no time in checking his wife over for any injuries she may have possibly sustained.

"Percy, what is your problem?" Annabeth asked.

"We're going to have company!" Percy explained quickly about the monster orientation class. Her eyes widened.

"So that's what they are," she said. "Telekhines. I should've known. And they're making…

Well, look."

They all peeked over the cauldron. In the centre of the platform stood four sea demons, but these were fully grown, at least eight feet tall. Their black skin glistened in the firelight as they worked, sparks flying as they took turns hammering on a long piece of glowing hot metal.

"The blade is almost complete." one said. "It needs another cooling in blood to fuse the metals."

"Aye." a second said. "It shall be even sharper than before."

"What  _is_ that?" Percy whispered.

Annabeth shook her head. "They keep talking about fusing metals. I wonder—"

"They were talking about the greatest Titan weapon." Luke said.

"And they…they said they made my father's trident." Percy added.

"The telekhines betrayed the gods." Annabeth said. "They were practising dark magic. I don't know what, exactly, but Zeus banished them to Tartarus."

"With Kronos."

She nodded. "We have to get out—"

No sooner had she said that than the door to the classroom exploded and young telekhines came pouring out. They stumbled over each other, trying to figure out which way to charge.

"Put your cap back on." Percy said. "Get out!"

"You too, Vitani!" Luke said.

"What?" Annabeth shrieked. "No! I'm not leaving you."

"Me neither, Luke!" Vitani shook her head.

"I've got a plan. I'll distract them. You two can use the metal spider—maybe it'll lead you back to Hephaestus. You have to tell him what's going on." Percy said.

"But you'll be killed!" Annabeth cried.

"I'll be fine. Besides, we've got no choice."

Annabeth glared at Percy like she was going to punch him. And then she did something that surprised him even more. She kissed him.

Vitani then pulled Luke down for a kiss as well.

"Be careful, Seaweed Brain." She put on her hat and vanished.

"Here, Luke. Take these. Just in case!" Vitani said, pushing two Clow cards into her husband's hands.

"But I can't-"

"Yes, you can! The necklace, remember? Come back alive or else!" Vitani said before shimmering from view.

"There!" one yelled.

The entire class of telekhines charged across the bridge toward the two. They ran for the middle of the platform, surprising the four elder sea demons so much they dropped the red-hot blade. It was about six feet long and curved like a crescent moon.

The elder demons got over their surprise quickly. There were four ramps leading off the platform, and before they could dash in any direction, each of them had covered an exit.

The tallest one snarled. "What do we have here? A son of Poseidon? And...a Son of Hermes as well."

"Yes," another growled. "I can smell the sea in his blood, and the other looks just like his father."

Percy and Luke stood back to back, swords raised.

"Strike down two of us, demigods," the third demon said, "and the rest of us shall tear you to shreds. Your father betrayed us. He took our gift and said nothing as we were cast into the pit. We will see  _him_ sliced to pieces. He and all the other Olympians."

"Let us see how strong he is. Let us see how long it takes him to burn!"

He scooped some lava out of the nearest furnace. It set his fingers ablaze, but this didn't seem to bother him at all. The other elder telekhines did the same. The first one threw a glop of molten rock at them and set Percy's pants on fire. Luke was able to dodge all the flaming projectiles.

"Percy!" Luke said sharply when two more globs of lava hit the younger demigod.

"Your father's nature protects you." one said. "Makes you hard to burn. But not impossible, youngling. Not impossible."

"Watery! Please help him!" Luke said, taking out one of the Clow cards Vitani had given him. The card glowed along with Luke's necklace and the beautiful mermaid water spirit emerged from the card.

Percy screamed when he was engulfed by fire, but stopped when he felt water, sweet water, engulf him.

He then stood up, all of his wounds were healing and he was feeling stronger than ever.

He subconsciously had controlled the water that Watery had created for him, a familiar feeling tugged as his navel.

"Shit! Shield!" Luke said, summoning the second Clow card, creating an orange barrier bubble around him. Just in time as well.

Afterwards, they could never describe what happened. An explosion, a tidal wave, a whirlwind of power simultaneously catching them up and blasting the two downward into the lava. Fire and water collided, superheated steam, and they shot upward from the heart of the volcano in a huge explosion, just one piece of flotsam thrown free by a million pounds of pressure.

The last thing Luke and Percy remembered before losing conscious was flying, and then beginning to fall, smoke and fire and water streaming from them. They were a comet hurtling toward the earth.


	33. Chapter 33

Luke soon woke up on a beach, still encased the orange barrier bubble before it popped, the Shield card flying back into his hand. He put it away and sat up, looking at the paradise island around him

He then looked down at his person, other than a few singes on his clothing, he was perfectly fine.

He noticed however that his magical crystal pendant looked dimmer.

"Nice to see you awake, young hero." A gentle voice said from behind him.

Luke immediately turned around with Backbiter in his hands, pointing it at the woman.

"Who are you?" Luke demanded, not even batting an eyelash at the beautiful girl. To him, no one was more beautiful than Vitani, his lovely wife whom he loved more than anything else.

"I am Calypso." The woman replied.

Luke lowered his sword in shock. "You're Calypso?"

"You've heard of me."

"Yes." Luke swallowed. "Just to let you know, I will leave this island to go back to my wife."

Calypso nodded. "Yes, I've noticed the ring on your finger."

"Did Percy fall on this island as well?"

"Yes, I found him not too long ago. He's in my home, resting and healing. I would've brought you in as well, but that orange barrier wouldn't let me through." Calypso said.

"A gift from my wife." Luke answered.

* * *

"Glad to see you're awake, Percy. You were fading in and out of conciousness for the last few days." Luke said as Percy sat up.

"Glad to see you're okay, Luke. I almost thought I killed you because of my stunt." Percy said apologetically.

"It's fine, Percy. Vitani protected me with this." Luke said before holding up a Clow card. "Otherwise, I would've been steamed to death, literally."

"Sorry again." Percy said. He got up and wrapped a robe around himself.

When he walked outside, he was amazed by all the constellations he could see, along with the new constellation: The Huntress, a tribute to Zoe Nightshade who had died last winter.

"Hello, you two." Calypso greeted. "Percy, you're up now."

"Yeah." Percy nodded, staring at Calypso with awe.

Luke winced.

"Well, as long as you're up, you can help me plant these." Calypso said, handing Percy a plant, which had a clump of dirt and roots at the base.

Luke tried to stay as distant as possible, he knew about Calypso's curse, and he didn't want to make it harder for the girl.

Instead, he took a blanket and lied on the beach, looking up at the stars.

"Your friend, he misses his wife greatly." Calypso said with a tiny hint of envy in his voice.

"Luke? Yeah, he loves Vitani more than anything." Percy said, planting the moonlace.

"She is a very lucky girl to have such a dedicated husband." Calypso said wistfully.

* * *

Everyday, Luke would stand at the beach while Percy recovered, looking up at the stars, thinking about his wife whom he missed greatly. He would occasionally practise with his sword as well, fighting an invisible enemy.

Soon a column of fire reached the beach, and Calypso stood before it and bowed formally.

The flames dissipated, and standing before the three was a tall man in grey overalls and a metal leg brace, his beard and hair was smouldering with fire.

"Lord Hephaestus." Calypso said. "This is a rare honour."

The fire god grunted. "Calypso. Beautiful as always. Would you excuse us, please, my dear? I need to have a word with our young Percy Jackson and Luke Castellan."

The god sat down clumsily at the dinner table that Percy and Calypso were dining at before ordering a Pepsi. The Pepsi sprayed his clothes, making him grumble something about automatons being better and more reliable than people.

"Hephaestus," Luke said. "What is going on? Is Vitani and Annabeth-"

"They're fine." He said. "Resourceful girls, they are. Found their way back and told me the whole story. They're worried sick you know."

"You haven't told them that we're okay?" Percy asked.

"That's not for me to say." Hephaestus said. "Everyone thinks you two are dead. Though Luke Castellan's wife keeps insisting that you're alive, not believing your death for a single moment. I had to be sure you two were coming back before I started telling everyone where you were."

"What do you mean?" Percy asked. "Of course we're coming back!"

Hephaestus studied him skeptically. He then fished something out of his pocket—a metal disk the size of an iPod. He clicked a button and it expanded into a miniature bronze TV. On the screen was news footage of Mount St. Helens, a huge plume of fire and ash trailing into the sky.

" _Still uncertain about further eruptions,"_ the newscaster was saying. " _Authorities have ordered the evacuation of almost half a million people as a precaution. Meanwhile, ash has fallen as far away as Lake Tahoe and Vancouver, and the entire Mount St. Helens area is closed to traffic within a hundred-mile radius. While no deaths have been reported, minor injuries and illnesses include—"_

Hephaestus switched it off. "You caused quite an explosion."

Percy and Luke stared at the blank bronze screen. Half a million people evacuated?

"The telekhines were scattered." The god told them. "Some vaporized. Some got away, no doubt. I don't think they'll be using my forge any time soon. On the other hand, neither will I. The explosion caused Typhon to stir in his sleep. We'll have to wait and see—"

"I couldn't release him, could I? I mean, I'm not that powerful!"

The god grunted. "Not that powerful, eh? Could have fooled me. You're the son of the Earthshaker, lad. You don't know your own strength."

Luke grimaced.

"What about Grover and Tyson?" Percy asked.

Hephaestus shook his head. "No word, I'm afraid. I suppose the labyrinth has them."

"So what am I supposed to do?"

Hephaestus winced. "Don't ever ask an old cripple for advice, lad. But I'll tell you this. You've met my wife?"

"Aphrodite."

"That's her. She's a tricky one, lad. Be careful of love. It'll twist your brain around and leave you thinking up is down and right is wrong."

Luke knew it was true, but that didn't change the fact that he stilled loved his own wife.

"Is this part of her plan?" Percy asked. "Did she land us here?"

"Possibly. Hard to say with her. But if you decide to leave this place—and I don't say what's right or wrong—then I promised you an answer to your quest. I promised you the way to Daedalus. Well now, here's the thing. It has nothing to do with Ariadne's string. Not really. Sure, the string works. That's what the Titan's army will be after. But the best way through the maze…Theseus had the princess's help. And the princess was a regular mortal. Not a drop of god blood in her. But she was clever, and she could see, lad. She could see very clearly. So what I'm saying—I think you know how to navigate the maze."

"Yeah." Percy said. Realization dawned upon him. "Yeah, I know."

"You do?" Luke asked.

Percy nodded.

"Then you'll need to decide whether or not you're leaving."

"I…"

"Don't decide yet." Hephaestus advised. "Wait until daybreak. Daybreak is a good time for decisions."

"Will Daedalus even help us?" Percy asked. "I mean, if he gives Ethan a way to navigate the Labyrinth, we're dead. I saw dreams about…Daedalus killed his nephew. He turned bitter and angry and—"

"It isn't easy being a brilliant inventor." Hephaestus rumbled. "Always alone. Always misunderstood. Easy to turn bitter, make horrible mistakes. People are more difficult to work with than machines. And when you break a person, he can't be fixed."

Hephaestus brushed the last drops of Pepsi off his work clothes.

"Daedalus started well enough. He helped the Princess Ariadne and Theseus because he felt sorry for them. He tried to do a good deed. And everything in his life went bad because of it. Was that fair?" The god shrugged. "I don't know if Daedalus will help you, lad, but don't judge someone until you've stood at his forge and worked with his hammer, eh?"

"I'll—I'll try."

Hephaestus stood. "Good-bye, lad. You did well, destroying the telekhines. I'll always remember you for that."

The two of them decided to go find Calypso, and found her in her garden.

"He has ordered you to return." Calypso guessed.

"Well, not ordered. He gave me a choice."

Her eyes met mine. "I promised I would not offer."

"Offer what?"

"For you to stay." Luke said.

Calypso nodded. "Luke is correct."

"Stay." Percy said. "Like…forever?"

"You would be immortal on this island." She said quietly. "You would never age or die. You could leave the fight to others, Percy Jackson. You could escape your prophecy."

Percy stared at her, stunned. "Just like that?"

She nodded. "Just like that."

"But…my friends."

Calypso rose and took Percy's hand. Her touch sent a warm current through his body. "You asked about my curse, Percy. I did not want to tell you. The truth is the gods send me companionship from time to time. Every thousand years or so, they allow a hero to wash up on my shores, someone who needs my help. I tend to him and befriend him, but it is never random. The Fates make sure that the sort of hero they send…"

Her voice trembled, and she had to stop.

Percy squeezed her hand tighter. "What? What have I done to make you sad?"

"They send a person who can never stay." she whispered. "Who can never accept my offer of companionship for more than a little while. They send me a hero I can't help…just the sort of person I can't help falling in love with. Though this is the first time they had sent two heroes, but it may as well have been one hero, as your friend Luke is so sure of his love for his wife, that he is not swayed by me in the slightest."

"Me?" Percy asked.

"If you could see your face." She suppressed a smile, though her eyes were still teary. "Of course, you."

"That's why you've been pulling away all this time?"

"I tried very hard. But I can't help it. The Fates are cruel. They sent you to me, my brave one, knowing that you would break my heart."

"But…I'm just…I mean, I'm just  _me_."

"That is enough." Calypso promised. "I told myself I would not even speak of this. I would let you go without even offering. But I can't. I suppose the Fates knew that, too. You could stay with me, Percy. I'm afraid that is the only way you could help me."

Percy stared at the horizon and Luke waited patiently. This was Percy's choice, so he had to stay out of it. But he knew what Percy's answer would be in the end. The first red streaks of dawn were lightening the sky.

"I can't." Percy told her.

She looked down sadly.

"I would never do anything to hurt you," Percy said, "but my friends need me. I know how to help them now. I have to get back."

She picked a flower from her garden—a sprig of silver moonlace. Its glow faded as the sunrise came up.  _Daybreak is a good time for decisions,_ Hephaestus had said. Calypso tucked the flower into his T-shirt pocket.

She stood on her tiptoes and kissed Percy on the forehead, like a blessing.

"Then come to the beach, my hero. And we will send you on your way. And your friend, Luke, as well of course."

The raft was a ten-foot square of logs lashed together with a pole for a mast and a simple white linen sail. It didn't look like it would be very seaworthy, or lake worthy.

"This will take you wherever you desire." Calypso promised. "It is quite safe."

"Maybe I can visit you." Percy said.

She shook her head. "No man ever finds Ogygia twice, Percy. When you leave, I will never see you again."

"But—"

"Go, please." Her voice broke. "The Fates are cruel, Percy. Just remember me." Then a little trace of her smile returned. "Plant a garden in Manhattan for me, will you?"

"I promise." Percy stepped onto the raft with Luke right behind him. Immediately it began to sail from the shore.

Within minutes the island of Ogygia was lost in the mist.

Then Percy told the raft what to do.

"Camp Half-Blood." Percy said. "Sail us home."

* * *

Hours later, their raft washed up at Camp Half-Blood, how the raft had gotten there, they had no idea. The familiar shoreline of Long Island appeared up ahead, and a couple of friendly great white sharks surfaced and steered them towards the beach.

"Man, Vitani is going to kill me." Luke winced.

When they landed, the camp seemed deserted. It was late afternoon, and there was not a camper in sight.

Then they noticed smoke coming from the amphitheatre, too early for a campfire.

They ran towards it, before they even got there, they heard Chiron make an announcement.

"-assume they are dead." Chiron said. "After so long a silence, it is unlikely our prayers will be answered. I have asked Luke's wife and Percy's best surviving friend to do the final honours."

When Luke and Percy came up behind the amphitheatre, nobody noticed them due to the fact that all of them were looking forward.

Annabeth took a long sea foam green silk burial cloth, embroidered with a trident and set it on the flames.

Vitani did the same with a metallic white and emerald green shroud, her eyes looked red and puffy from crying. Annabeth looked the same.

Vitani then saw Luke.

"LUKE!" Vitani cried out, she pushed through the crowd and Luke met her half way, scooping her up into his arms and she hugging him tightly. "You're okay! I told them that you didn't need a shroud! I knew you were alive!"

The crowd gasped when the saw Percy as well.

"Percy!" Beckendorf grinned.

A bunch of other campers crowded both Luke, who was still holding Vitani, and Percy. They clapped them on the back in happiness.

Chiron soon made their way towards them.

"Well," He sighed with obvious relief. "I don't believe I've ever been happier to see a camper return. But you must tell me—"

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" Annabeth interrupted.

"Yes, Luke dearest. Where. Have. You. Been?" Vitani asked in a very deadly tone, giving him a sickeningly sweet smile.

Luke paled.

"We thought you guys were dead!" Annabeth growled.

"Sorry." Luke apologized.

"We, uh, got lost." Percy said.

"LOST?!" She yelled. "For two weeks?! Where in the world-"

"Annabeth, Vitani," Chiron interrupted. "Perhaps we should discuss this somewhere more private, shall we? The rest of you, back to your normal activities!"

The campers groaned before trudging off.

Luke and Percy shared a look before Luke told the story of how they had been marooned on an island. Then Hephaestus had found them and told them that they could leave. A magic raft then carried them back to camp.

"You've been gone for two weeks." Annabeth said, her voice steadier. "When I heard the explosion, I thought-"

"That reminds me." Luke said before pulling out two Clow cards. "These saved our lives. Thank you, Vitani."

Vitani nodded and took them back before burying her face back into his chest, taking relief at the sound of his heartbeat.

"I know." Percy said. "I'm sorry. But I figured out how to get through the Labyrinth. I talked to Hephaestus."

"He told you the answer?"

"Well, he sort of told me that I already knew. And I do. I understand now."

Percy then told them his idea.

Annabeth's jaw dropped. "Percy, that's crazy!"

Chiron sat back in his wheelchair and stroked his beard. "There is precedent, however. Theseus had the help of Ariadne. Harriet Tubman, daughter of Hermes, used many mortals on her Underground Railroad for just this reason."

"But this is  _my_ quest." Annabeth said. " _I_ need to lead it."

Chiron looked uncomfortable. "My dear, it is your quest. But you need help."

"And  _this_ is supposed to help? Please! It's wrong. It's cowardly. It's—"

"Hard to admit we need a mortal's help." Luke said. "But it's true."

Annabeth glared at Percy. "You are the  _single most annoying_ person I have ever met!" And she stormed out of the room.

Percy sighed.

"She will calm down." Chiron promised.

"That's right, she's just jealous, is all." Vitani said.

"That's stupid. She's not…it's not like…" Percy trailed off.

Chiron chuckled. "It hardly matters. Annabeth is very territorial about her friends, in case you haven't noticed. She was quite worried about you. And now that you're back, I think she suspects where you were marooned."

Luke and Percy gave their best innocent expression.

"We won't dwell on your choices." Chiron said, chuckling. "You came back. That is what matters."

"Tell that to Annabeth."

Chiron smiled. "In the morning I will have Argus take the two of you into Manhattan. You might stop by your mother's, Percy. She is…understandably distraught."

"And you, you owe me for making me worry so much!" Vitani growled, poking her husband hard in the chest.

"I'll, uh, give you a back massage? A really long one." Luke promised.

Vitani thought it over before nodded. Luke did give nice massages.

"Come on then." Vitani said, walking to her cabin with Luke right behind her. He sighed in relief and gave her a small smile. It was good to be back.

 


	34. Chapter 34

Percy arranged a meeting with Rachel Elizabeth Dare in Time's square. She was a clear sighted mortal would could see through the mist.

When they found her in front of the Marriot Marquis, she was completely painted gold.

The group stood there for five minutes, staring at Rachel. But if she noticed them, she didn't let on.

"Maybe if we push her over." Annabeth suggested. She quieted however when Percy threw her a look.

After another few minutes, a kid in silver walked up from the hotel taxi stand, where he had been taking a break. He took a pose like he was lecturing the crowd, right next to Rachel.

Rachel then unfroze herself and stepped off the tarp.

"Hey, Percy." She grinned. "Good timing! Let's get some coffee."

They all walked down to a place called the Java Moose on West 43rd. Rachel ordered an Espresso Extreme, Vitani got a lemonade slushie, and Luke, Percy, and Annabeth got fruit smoothes.

No one looked twice at Rachel in her golden outfit.

Rachel then saw Luke, she stared at him like she had just noticed he was there.

"Holy—you're hot! Like, smokin' hot." Rachel said, staring at Luke with wide eyes. Her eyes raked his tall muscular form.

Annabeth twitched slightly, Vitani raised a brow, and Luke smiled wryly.

"He's my husband." Vitani said with a flat look.

"Damn." Rachel cursed before facing Annabeth and Vitani. "So, you're Annabelle, right? And you're Vivian?"

"Annabeth." Annabeth corrected.

"And it's Vitani." Vitani said.

"Do you always dress in gold?" Luke asked, changing the subject in case things got ugly between the three girls. The last thing they needed was a cat fight in the middle of the cafe.

"Not usually." Rachel said. "We're raising money for our group. We do volunteer art projects for elementary kids 'cause they're cutting art from the schools, you know? We do this once a month, take in about five hundred dollars on a good weekend. But I'm guessing you don't want to talk about that. You're a half-blood, too?"

"Shhh!" Annabeth said, looking around. "Just announce it to the world, how about?"

"Okay." Rachel stood up and said really loud, "Hey, everybody! These four aren't human! They're half Greek god!"

Nobody even looked over. Rachel shrugged and sat down. "They don't seem to care."

"That's not funny." Annabeth said. "This isn't a joke, mortal girl."

"Hold it, you two." Luke said. "Just calm down."

"I'm calm." Rachel insisted. "Every time I'm around you, Percy, some monster attacks us. What's to be nervous about?"

"Look." Percy said. "I'm really sorry about the band room. I hope they didn't kick you out or anything."

"Nah. They asked me a lot of questions about you. I played dumb."

"Was it hard?" Annabeth asked, Vitani sighed and elbowed her slightly.

"Okay, stop!" Percy intervened. "Rachel, we've got a problem. And we need your help."

Rachel narrowed her eyes at Annabeth. " _You_ need  _my_  help?"

Annabeth stirred her straw in her smoothie. "Yeah," she said suddenly. "Maybe."

Percy then told Rachel about the Labyrinth, and how they needed to find Daedalus. Then he told her what had happened the last few times they'd gone in.

"So you want me to guide you." she said. "Through a place I've never been."

"That about sums it up." Luke nodded.

"You can see through the Mist." Vitani said.

"Just like Ariadne. I'm betting you can see the right path. The Labyrinth won't be able to fool you as easily." Percy added.

"And if you're wrong?"

"Then we'll get lost. Either way, it'll be dangerous. Very, very dangerous."

"I could die?"

"Yeah."

"I thought you said monsters don't care about mortals. That sword of yours—"

"Yeah." Percy said. "Celestial bronze doesn't hurt mortals. Most monsters would ignore you. But Ethan…he doesn't care. He'll use mortals, demigods, monsters, whatever. And he'll kill anyone who gets in his way."

"Nice guy." Rachel said.

"Yeah, real nice." Luke grumbled.

Rachel looked at all of them.

"Okay." She said. "I'm in."

Percy blinked."Are you sure?"

"Hey, my summer was going to be boring. This is the best offer I've gotten yet. So what do I look for?"

"We have to find an entrance to the Labyrinth." Annabeth said. "There's an entrance at Camp Half-Blood, but you can't go there. It's off-limits to mortals."

She said  _mortals_ like it was some sort of terrible condition, but Rachel just nodded.

"Okay. What does an entrance to the Labyrinth look like?"

"It could be anything." Annabeth said. "A section of wall. A boulder. A doorway. A sewer entrance. But it would have the mark of Daedalus on it. A Greek Delta symbol, glowing in blue."

"Like this?" Rachel drew the symbol Delta in water on our table.

"That's it." Annabeth said. "You know Greek?"

"No." Rachel said. She pulled a big blue plastic hairbrush from her pocket and started brushing the gold out of her hair. "Let me get changed. You'd better come with me to the Marriott."

"Why?" Annabeth said.

"Because there's an entrance like that in the hotel basement, where we store our costumes. It's got the mark of Daedalus."

* * *

The metal door was half hidden behind a laundry bin full of dirt hotel towels.

"It hasn't been used in a long time." Annabeth said.

"I tried to open it once, just out of curiosity. And it rusted over." Rachel said.

"No." Annabeth stepped forward. "It just needs the touch of a half-blood."

Sure enough, as soon as Annabeth put her hand on the mark, it glowed blue. The metal door unsealed and creaked open, revealing a dark staircase leading down.

"Wow." Rachel said. "So... after you?"

"You're the guide." Annabeth said with mock politeness. "Lead on."

Vitani sighed and shook her head. She had a feeling that Annabeth would not come to like Rachel for a long while.

When they flashed a light down the tunnel, a skeleton grinned at them.

Rachel yelped in surprise.

It wasn't human. It was huge, for one thing—at least ten feet tall. It had been strung up, chained by its wrists and ankles so it made a kind of giant X over the tunnel. But what really sent shivers of their spines was the single black eye socket in the centre of its skull.

"A Cyclops." Vitani said. "It's very old, and definitely not someone we know."

 _It wasn't Tyson,_ she meant.

Rachel swallowed. "You have a friend who's a Cyclops?"

"Tyson," Percy said. "My half brother."

"Your  _half brother._ "

"Hopefully we'll find him down here," Luke said. "And Grover. He's a satyr."

"Oh." Her voice was small. "Well then, we'd better keep moving."

She stepped under the skeleton's left arm and kept walking. Annabeth shrugged before they followed Rachel deeper into the maze.

After fifty feet they came to a crossroad. Ahead, the brick tunnel continued. To the right, the walls were made of ancient marble slabs. To the left, the tunnel was dirt and tree roots.

Percy pointed left. "That looks like the tunnel Tyson and Grover took."

Annabeth frowned. "Yeah, but the architecture to the right—those old stones—that's more likely to lead to an ancient part of the maze, toward Daedalus's workshop."

"We need to go straight." Rachel said.

Everyone looked at her.

"That's the least likely choice." Annabeth said.

"You don't see it?" Rachel asked. "Look at the floor."

"I don't see anything." Luke said, squinting.

"I think I see something but..." Vitani trailed off.

"There's a brightness there." Rachel insisted. "Very faint. But forward is the correct way. To the left, farther down the tunnel, those tree roots are moving like feelers. I don't like that. To the right, there's a trap about twenty feet down. Holes in the walls, maybe for spikes. I don't think we should risk it."

Percy nodded. "Okay. Forward."

"You believe her?" Annabeth asked.

"Yeah." Percy said. "Don't you?"

Annabeth looked like she wanted to argue, but she waved at Rachel to lead on. Together they kept walking down the brick corridor. It twisted and turned, but there were no more side tunnels. They seemed to be angling down, heading deeper underground.

"No traps?" Luke asked anxiously.

"Nothing." Rachel knit her eyebrows. "Should it be this easy?"

"I don't know." Vitani said, furrowing her brow. "It never was before."

"So, Rachel," Annabeth said, "where are you from, exactly?"

She said it like,  _What planet are you from?_ But Rachel didn't look offended.

"Brooklyn." she said.

"Aren't your parents going to be worried if you're out late?"

Rachel exhaled. "Not likely. I could be gone a week and they'd never notice."

"Why not?" This time Annabeth didn't sound as sarcastic. Having trouble with parents was something she understood.

Before Rachel could answer, there was a creaking noise in front of us, them huge doors opening.

"What was that?" Annabeth asked.

"I don't know." Rachel said. "Metal hinges."

"Oh, that's very helpful. I mean,  _what is it?_ "

Then the sound of heavy footsteps came towards then.

"Run?" Percy asked.

"Run." Rachel agreed.

They turned and fled the way they had came, but didn't make it twenty feet before running straight into some old friends. Two dracaenae—snake women in Greek armor—leveled their javelins at our chests. Standing between them was Kelli, the empousa cheerleader.

"Well, well." Kelli said.

Percy uncapped Riptide, Vitani got ready to pulled out her wand, Luke unsheathed Backbiter, and Annabeth pulled her knife; but before they could react, Kelli pounced on Rachel. Her hand turned into a claw and she spun Rachel around, holding her tight with her talons at Rachel's neck.

"Taking your little mortal pet for a walk?" Kelli asked me. "They're such fragile things. So easy to break!"

Behind them, the footsteps came closer. A huge form appeared out of the gloom—an eight-foot-tall Laistrygonian giant with red eyes and fangs.

The giant licked his lips when he saw them. "Can I eat them?"

"No." Kelli said. "Your master will want these. They will provide a great deal of entertainment." She smiled at me. "Now march, half-bloods. Or you all die here, starting with the mortal girl. But perhaps..."

Kelli looked at Vitani.

"If my dear  _sister_ joins us, we may let her live."

"Never!" Vitani spat.

They were then marched down the tunnel, flanked by dracaenae, with Kelli and the giant in back, just in case they tried to run. Nobody seemed to worry about them running forward. That was the direction they wanted them to go.

Up ahead were bronze doors. They were about ten feet tall, emblazoned with a pair of crossed swords. From behind them came a muffled roar, like from a crowd.

"Oh, yessssss," said the snake woman on Percy's left. "You'll be very popular with our hossssst."

"Who's your host?" Percy asked.

She hissed, which might have been a laugh. "Oh, you'll sssssee. You'll get along furiousssly. He'ssss your brother, after all."

"My what?"

The giant pushed past them and opened the doors. He picked up Annabeth and Vitani by their shirts and said, "You two stay here."

"Hey!" Annabeth protested, but the guy was twice her size and he'd already confiscated her knife, and Percy's and Luke's sword. Vitani never showed her wand so they hadn't taken it.

"Get your hands off my wife!" Luke snarled, but one of the dracaenae held him back.

Kelli just laughed. She still had her claws at Rachel's neck. "Go on, Percy. Entertain us. We'll wait here with your friends to make sure you behave."

Percy looked at Rachel. "I'm sorry. I'll get you out of this."

She nodded as much as she could with a demon at her throat. "That would be nice."

The dracaenae prodded him toward the doorway at javelin-point, and he walked out onto the floor of an arena.

The dirt floor was circular, just big enough that you could drive a car around the rim if you pulled it really tight. In the centre of the arena, a fight was going on between a giant and a centaur. The centaur looked panicked. He was galloping around his enemy, using sword and shield, while the giant swing a javelin the size of a telephone pole and the crowd cheered.

The first tier of seats was twelve feet above the arena floor. Plain stone benches wrapped all the way around, and every seat was full. There were giants, dracaenae _,_ demigods, telekhines, and stranger things: bat-winged demons and creatures that seemed half human and half you name it—bird, reptile, insect, mammal.

But the creepiest things were the skulls. The arena was full of them. They ringed the edge of the railing. Three-foot-high piles of them decorated the steps between the benches. They grinned from pikes at the back of the stands and hung on chains from the ceiling like horrible chandeliers. Some of them looked very old—nothing but bleached-white bone. Others looked a lot fresher.

In the middle of all this, proudly displayed on the side of the spectator's wall, was something that made no sense to Percy—a green banner with the trident of Poseidon in the centre. What was  _that_ doing in a horrible place like this?

Above the banner, sitting in a seat of honour, was an old enemy.

"Ethan." Percy said.

He smiled coldly. He was wearing camouflage pants, a white T-shirt, and bronze breastplate, but he still wasn't wearing his sword. Next to him sat the largest giant Percy had ever seen, much larger than the one on the floor fighting the centaur. The giant next to Ethan must've been fifteen feet tall, easy, and so wide he took up three seats. He wore only a loincloth, like a sumo wrestler. His skin was dark red and tattooed with blue wave designs.

There was a cry from the arena floor, and Percy jumped back as the centaur crashed to the dirt beside me.

He met my eyes pleadingly. "Help!"

Percy reached for his sword, but it had been taken from him and hadn't reappeared in his pocket yet.

The centaur struggled to get up as the giant approached, his javelin ready.

A taloned hand gripped my shoulder. "If you value your friendsss' livesss, you won't interfere. This isssn't your fight. Wait your turn."

The centaur couldn't get up. One of his legs was broken. The giant put his huge foot on the horseman's chest and raised the javelin. He looked up at Ethan. The crowd cheered, "DEATH! DEATH!"

Ethan didn't do anything, but the tattooed sumo dude sitting next to him arose. He smiled down at the centaur, who was whimpering, "Please! No!"

Then the sumo dude held out his hand and gave the  _thumbs down_ sign.

Percy closed his eyes as the gladiator giant thrust his javelin. When he looked again, the centaur was gone, disintegrated to ashes. All that was left was a single hoof, which the giant took up as a trophy and showed the crowd. They roared their approval.

A gate opened at the opposite end of the stadium and the giant marched out in triumph.

In the stands, the sumo dude raised his hands for silence.

"Good entertainment!" he bellowed. "But nothing I haven't seen before. What else do you have, Ethan, Son of Nemesis?"

Ethan's jaw tightened, but he rose calmly to his feet. His eyes glittered. In fact, he seemed to be in a pretty good mood.

"Lord Antaeus." Ethan said, loud enough for the crowd to hear. "You have been an excellent host! We would be happy to amuse you, to repay the favor of passing through your territory."

"A favor I have not yet granted." Antaeus growled. "I want entertainment!"

Ethan bowed. "I believe I have something better than centaurs to fight in your arena now. I have a brother of yours." He pointed at me. "Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon."

The crowd began jeering at me and throwing stones, most of which he dodged, but one caught him on the cheek and made a good-sized cut.

Antaeus' eyes lit up. "A son of Poseidon? Then he should fight well! Or die well!"

"If his death pleases you," Ethan said, "will you let our armies cross your territory?"

"Perhaps!" Antaeus said.

Ethan didn't look too pleased about the 'perhaps.' He glared down at Percy, as if warning him that he'd better die in a really spectacular way or he'd be in big trouble.

"Ethan!" Annabeth yelled. "Stop this. Let us go!"

Ethan just sneered.

"Enough time for the females to fight afterwards." Antaeus interrupted.

"Wait, knock the girl with the dark hair out, her magic might interfere." Ethan ordered.

The giant holding Vitani did as told and hit her head, causing her to slump in his grip.

"Vitani!" Luke cried out.

"First, Percy Jackson, what weapons will you choose?"

The dracaenae pushed him into the middle of the arena.

He stared up at Antaeus. "How can you be a son of Poseidon?"

"I am his favourite son!" Antaeus boomed. "Behold, my temple to the Earthshaker, built from the skulls of all those I've killed in his name! Your skull shall join them!"

Percy stared in horror at all the skulls—hundreds of them—and the banner of Poseidon.

"Percy!" Annabeth yelled at me. "His mother is Gaea! Gae—"

Her Laistrygonian captor clamped his hand over her mouth.  _His mother is Gaea._ The earth goddess. Annabeth was trying to tell him that was important, but he didn't know why.

Maybe just because the guy had two godly parents.

That would make him even harder to kill.

"You're crazy, Antaeus." Percy said. "If you think this is a good tribute, you know nothing about Poseidon."

The crowd screamed insults at him, but Antaeus raised his hand for silence.

"Weapons," he insisted. "And then we will see how you die. Will you have axes? Shields? Nets? Flamethrowers?"

"Just my sword." Percy said.

Laughter erupted from the monsters, but immediately Riptide appeared in his hands, and some of the voices in the crowd turned nervous. The bronze blade glowed with a faint light.

"Round one!" Antaeus announced. The gates opened, and a dracaena slithered out. She had a trident in one hand and a weighted net in the other—classic gladiator style.

She jabbed at him experimentally. Percy stepped away. She threw her net, hoping to tangle his sword hand, but he sidestepped easily, sliced her spear in half, and stabbed Riptide through a chink in her armour. With a painful wail, she vaporized into nothing, and the cheering of the crowd died.

"No!" Antaeus bellowed. "Too fast! You must wait for the kill. Only I give that order!"

"Nice job, Percy." Ethan smiled. "You've gotten better with the sword. I'll grant you that."

"Round two!" Antaeus yelled. "And slower this time! More entertainment! Wait for my call before killing anybody. OR ELSE!"

The gates opened again, and this time a young warrior came out. He was about sixteen. He had dark brown hair with freckles splattered across his face. He was thin and wiry so his Greek armour hung on him loosely. He stabbed his sword into the dirt, adjusted his shield straps, and pulled on his horsehair helmet.

Luke recognized him as an unclaimed son in his cabin, but he had been gone for a while.

"Who are you?" Percy asked.

"Aden Rogers." he said. "I have to kill you."

"Why are you doing this?"

"Hey!" A monster jeered from the stands. "Stop talking and fight already!"

The others took up the call.

"I have to prove myself." Aden said. "Only way to join up."

And with that he charged. Their swords met in midair and the crowd roared.

Aden pressed forward. He was good. He'd never been at Camp Half-Blood, as far as Percy knew, but he'd been trained.

He parried Percy's strike and almost slammed him with his shield, but he jumped back. Aden slashed. Percy rolled to one side. They exchanged thrusts and parries, getting a feel for each other's fighting style.

"Blood!" the monsters cried.

Aden glanced up at the stands. That was his weakness, Percy realized. He needed to impress them. Percydidn't.

He yelled an angry battle cry and charged the demigod son of Poseidon, but Percy parried his blade and backed away, letting him come after him.

"Boo!" Antaeus said. "Stand and fight!"

Aden pressed him, but Percy had no trouble defending, even without a shield.

Aden was dressed for defense—heavy armour and shield—which made it very tiring to play offence.

The crowd went nuts, yelling complaints and throwing rocks. They'd been fighting for almost five minutes and there was no blood.

Finally Aden made his mistake. He tried to jab at Percy's stomach, and Percy locked his sword hilt in his and twisted. His sword dropped into the dirt. Thank the gods that Luke taught him that trick.

Before he could recover, Percy slammed the butt of Riptide into Aden's helmet and pushed him down. His heavy armour helped Percy more than himself. He fell on his back, dazed and tired. Percy then put the tip of his sword on Aden's chest.

"Get it over with." Aden groaned.

Percy looked up at Antaeus. His red face was stony with displeasure, but he held up his hand and put it  _thumbs down._

"Forget it." Percy said before sheathing his sword.

"Don't be a fool." Aden grunted. "They'll just kill us both."

Percy offered him my hand. Reluctantly, he took it, and Percy helped him up.

"No one dishonours the games!" Antaeus bellowed. "Your heads shall both be tributes to Poseidon!"

Percy looked at Aden. "When you see your chance, run." Then Percy turned back to Antaeus. "Why don't you fight me yourself? If you've got Dad's favor, come down here and prove it!"

The monsters grumbled in the stands. Antaeus looked around, and apparently realized he had no choice. He couldn't say no without looking like a coward.

"I am the greatest wrestler in the world, boy." he warned. "I have been wrestling since the first  _pankration!_ "

" _Pankration?"_ Percy asked.

"He means fighting to the death." Aden said. "No rules. No holds barred. It used to be an Olympic sport."

"Thanks for the tip." Percy said.

"Don't mention it."

Rachel was watching Percy with wide eyes. Annabeth shook her head emphatically, the Laistrygonian's hand still clamped over her mouth, and Luke looked worried, occasionally glancing over to his wife who now laid on the floor unconscious.

Percy pointed my sword at Antaeus. "Winner takes all! I win, we all go free. You win, we die. Swear upon the River Styx."

Antaeus laughed. "This shouldn't take long. I swear to your terms!"

He leaped off the railing, into the arena.

"Good luck." Aden said. "You'll need it." Then he backed up quickly.

Antaeus cracked his knuckles and grinned.

"Weapons?" he asked.

"I'll stick with my sword. You?"

He held up his huge hands and wiggled his fingers. "I don't need anything else! Master Ethan, you will referee this one."

Ethan smiled down at him. "With pleasure."

Antaeus lunged and Percy rolled under his legs and stabbed him in the back of the thigh.

"Argggh!" He yelled. But where blood should've come out, there was a spout of sand. It spilled into the dirt floor, and the dirt collected around his leg, almost like a cast. When the dirt fell away, the wound was gone.

He charged again. Fortunately Percy had some experience fighting giants. He dodged sideways this time and stabbed him under the arm. Riptide's blade was buried to the hilt in his ribs. That was the good news. The bad news was that it was wrenched out of his hand when the giant turned, and Percy was thrown across the arena, weaponless.

Antaeus bellowed in pain. Percy waited for him to disintegrate. No monster had ever withstood a direct hit from his sword like that. The celestial bronze blade had to be destroying his essence. But Antaeus groped for the hilt, pulled out the sword, and tossed it behind him. More sand poured from the wound, but again the earth rose up to cover him. Dirt coated his body all the way to his shoulders. As soon as the dirt spilled away, Antaeus was fine.

"Now you see why I never lose, demigod!" Antaeus gloated. "Come here and let me crush you. I'll make it quick!"

Antaeus stood between me and my sword. Desperately, Percy glanced to either side and caught Annabeth's eye.

Antaeus's mother was Gaea the earth mother, the most ancient goddess of all.

Antaeus's father might have been Poseidon, but Gaea was keeping him alive. That's what Annabeth had been trying to tell him.

Percy couldn't hurt him as long as he was touching the ground. Percy tried to skirt around him, but Antaeus anticipated his move. He blocked Percy's path, chuckling. He was just toying with him now. He had him cornered.

* * *

Luke looked down at Percy, who was having trouble now that Riptide was gone from his grip.

 _'If only I help get Antaeus into the air.'_ He thought before glancing down his necklace. The magic crystal was still glowing, which meant it still had some power left.

_'If you're ever in big trouble, my magic will help you.'_

Luke closed his eyes for a moment before staring at Antaeus hard.

 _'C'mon! Levitate! Levitate! Levitate! Levitate!'_ Luke thought repeatedly, imagining Antaeus floating high up into the air.

His necklace glowed for a brief moment before dimming. A strange feeling engulfed Luke before Antaeus was lifted high into the air.

"How're you doing this? Put me down!" Antaeus roared.

Ethan glanced at Vitani, but she hadn't moved a single inch since she had been knocked out. He couldn't figure out why Antaeus was floating up in the air like that.

"Get me down!" Antaeus demanded.

"Free him!" Ethan ordered. "He is our host!"

Percy uncapped Riptide. "I'll free him."

And then Percy stabbed the giant in the stomach. He bellowed, and sand poured out, but he was too far up to touch the earth, and the dirt did not rise to help him.

Antaeus just dissolved, pouring out bit by bit, until there was nothing left but empty loincloth.

"Jackson!" Ethan yelled. "I should have killed you long ago!"

"You tried." Percy reminded him. "Let us go, Ethan. We had a sworn agreement with Antaeus. I'm the winner."

He did just what Percy expected. He said, "Antaeus is dead. His oath dies with him. But since I'm feeling merciful today, I'll have you killed quickly."

Every monster in the audience drew a weapon or extended its claws. They were trapped. Hopelessly outnumbered. Vitani could have decimated them with the amazing fire she had used on Mount Tam, but she was still out cold.

Percy then took the ice whistle out of his pocket and blew.

It made no audible sound as it shattered into shards of ice, melting away.

Ethan laughed. "What was that supposed to do?"

From behind Percy came a surprised yelp. The Laistrygonian giant who'd been guarding Annabeth flew past him and smashed into the wall.

" _AROOOOF"_

Kelli the empousascreamed as a five-hundred-pound black mastiff picked her up like a chew toy and tossed her through the air, straight into Ethan's lap.

Mrs. O'Leary snarled, and the two dracaenae guards backed away. For a moment the monsters in the audience were caught completely by surprise.

"Let's go!" Percy yelled at my friends. "Heel, Mrs. O'Leary!"

"The far exit!" Rachel cried. "That's the right way!"

Luke immediately scooped up his wife and followed Rachel.


	35. Chapter 35

"This way!" Rachel yelled as they ran down a corridor.

"Why should we follow you?" Annabeth demanded. "You led us straight into that death trap!"

"It was the way we needed to go," Rachel said. "And so is this. Come on!"

Annabeth didn't look to happy, but all Luke cared about was finding a safe place to wake his wife, whom he had slung over his shoulder. Probably not the most comfortable way for her to be held, but he didn't have time to put her onto his back.

Rachel seemed to know exactly where she was going. She whipped around corners and didn't even hesitate at crossroads. Once she said, "Duck!" and they all crouched as a huge axe swung over their heads. Then they kept going as if nothing had happened.

They didn't stop to rest until they came to a room the size of a gymnasium with old marble columns holding up the roof.

Percy stood on guard, trying to listen for any sounds of pursuit, but heard nothing. Apparently they had lost them in the maze.

Aden collapsed on the floor. "You people are crazy."

Luke set Vitani gently on the ground and searched through his backpack. He didn't come up with anything that would help so he searched through Vitani's satchel bag and luckily came up with smelling salts.

He waved the salts under her nose and Vitani groaned. She slowly cracked open an eye and sighed.

"My head hurts." Vitani said. "Pass me a headache curing potion would you?"

Luke nodded and did as told.

Vitani gulped down the potion with a relieved sigh before reaching into her satchel bag and pulling out a canteen of water to wash down the taste.

"So Aden, what are you doing here?" Luke asked coldly.

Annabeth gasped. "I remember you! You were one of the undetermined kids in the Hermes cabin, years ago."

Aden glared at her. "Yeah, and you're Annabeth. I remember. Nice to see you again too, Luke."

"Answer my question." Luke said as Vitani gave Percy some Vitamix potion, which gave the drinker energy, along with some bruise salves.

Aden sneered. "The gods never cared about us!"

"So you sign up with an army that makes you fight to the death for entertainment?" Luke asked, rolling his eyes.

Aden struggled to his feet. "I'm not going to argue with you. Thanks for the help, but I'm out of here."

"We're going after Daedalus." Percy said. "Come with us. Once we get through, you'd be welcome back at camp."

"You really  _are_ crazy if you think Daedalus will help you."

"He has to." Annabeth said. "We'll make him listen."

Aden snorted. "Yeah, well. Good luck with that."

Luke grabbed his arm. "You're just going to head off alone into the maze? That's suicide."

Aden shrugged Luke off and glared at Percy. "You shouldn't have spared me, Jackson. Mercy has no place in this war."

Then he ran off into the darkness, back the way they came.

Annabeth, Rachel, Percy, and Luke were so tired that they decided to make camp in the room they were currently in.

Vitani set up camp along with a bluebell flame camp fire that produced no smoke.

She put a few hot dogs on metal skewers and passed them around. Then she set up a small barbeque grill to toast the hot dog buns on.

* * *

When the ground started to rumble, everyone woke up.

"Tyson—Tyson is in trouble!" Percy said suddenly. "We have to help him!"

"First things first." Annabeth said. "Earthquake!"

The group ran down corridor where Rachel lead then, almost to the far tunnel when a hundred tons of marble crashed down behind them.

It wasn't long until they saw light up ahead—like electric lighting.

"There." Rachel said.

They followed her into a stainless steel hallway. Fluorescent lights glowed from the ceiling, and the floor was a metal grate.

"This way." Rachel said. "We're close!"

"This is so wrong!" Annabeth said. "The workshop should be in the oldest section of the maze. This can't—"

"I told you it would be in the newest section!" Vitani said.

They then arrived at the set of metal double doors.

Inscribed in steel, at eye level, was a large blue Greek delta symbol.

"We're here." Rachel announced. "Daedalus' workshop."

The first thing that struck them was the daylight—blazing sun coming through giant windows. Not the kind of thing you expect in the heart of a dungeon. The workshop was like an artist's studio, with thirty-foot ceilings and industrial lighting, polished stone floors, and workbenches along with windows. A spiral staircase led up to a second-story loft. Half a dozen easels displayed hand-drawn diagrams for buildings and machines that looked like Leonardo da Vinci sketches. Several laptop computers were scattered around on the tables. Glass jars of green oil—Greek fire—lined one shelf. There were inventions, too—weird metal machines no one other than perhaps Annabeth could make sense of. One was a bronze chair with a bunch of electrical wires attached to it, like some kind of torture device.

In another corner stood a giant metal egg about the size of a man. There was a grandfather clock that appeared to be made entirely of glass, so you could see all the gears turning.

And hanging on the wall were several sets of bronze and silver wings.

" _Di immortals,"_ Annabeth muttered. She ran to the nearest easel and looked at the sketch. "He's a genius. Look at the curves on this building!"

"And an artist." Rachel said in amazement. "These wings are amazing!"

The wings looked more advanced than the ones Percy had seen in his dreams.

Apparently Daedalus was not at home, but the workshop looked like it had been recently used. The laptops were running their screen savers. A half-eaten blueberry muffin and a coffee cup sat on a workbench.

Vitani walked to the window. The view outside was amazing. They were high up in the foothills, at least five hundred feet, and down below a valley spread out, filled with a tumbled collection of red mesas and boulders and spires of stone. It looked like some huge kid had been building a toy city with skyscraper-size blocks, and then decided to knock it over.

"Where are we?" Percy wondered, looking out the window as well.

"Colorado Springs." A voice said from behind them. "The Garden of the Gods."

Standing on the spiral staircase above them, with his weapon drawn, was their missing sword master Quintus.

"You." Annabeth said. "What have you done with Daedalus?"

Quintus smiled faintly. "Trust me, my dear. You don't want to meet him."

"Look, Mr. Traitor." She growled. "I didn't fight a dragon woman and a psychotic Sphinx to see  _you_. Now where is DAEDALUS?"

Quintus came down the stairs, holding his sword at his side. He was dressed in jeans and boots and his counselor's T-shirt from Camp Half- Blood.

"You think I'm an agent of Kronos." he said. "That I work for Ethan."

"Well, duh." said Annabeth.

"You're an intelligent girl." he said. "But you're wrong. I work only for myself."

"Ethan mentioned you." Luke said. "Geryon knew about you, too. You've been to his ranch."

"Of course." he said. "I've been almost everywhere. Even here."

He walked past them and stood by the window.

"The view changes from day to day." he mused. "It's always some place high up. Yesterday it was from a skyscraper overlooking Manhattan. The day before that, there was a beautiful view of Lake Michigan. But it keeps coming back to the Garden of the Gods. I think the Labyrinth likes it here. A fitting name, I suppose."

"You've been here before." Percy said.

"Oh, yes."

"That's an illusion out there?" Percy asked. "A projection or something?"

"No." Rachel murmured. "It's real. We're really in Colorado."

Quintus regarded her. "You have clear vision, don't you? You remind me of another mortal girl I once knew. Another princess who came to grief."

"Enough games." Luke said. "What have you done with Daedalus?"

"He  _is_  Daedalus." Vitani answered.

Quintus stared at Vitani. "You're correct, smart girl you are."

"But you're not an inventor! You're a swordsman!" Percy said.

"I am both," Quintus said. "And an architect. And a scholar. I also play basketball pretty well for a guy who didn't start until he was two thousand years old. A real artist must be good at many things."

"That's true." Rachel said. "Like I can paint with my feet as well as my hands."

"You see?" Quintus said. "A girl of many talents."

"But you don't even look like Daedalus." Percy protested. "I saw him in a dream, and…"

Percy widened his eyes in horror.

"Yes." Quintus said. "You've finally guessed the truth."

"You're an automaton. You made yourself a new body."

"Percy," Annabeth said uneasily, "that's not possible. That—that can't be an automaton."

"It's definitely possible." Vitani said.

Quintus chuckled. "Do you know what Quintus means, my dear?"

"The fifth, in Latin." Vitani answered before widening her eyes. "But that means-"

"This is my fifth body." The swordsman held out his forearm. He pressed his elbow and part of his wrist popped open—a rectangular hatch in his skin.

Underneath, bronze gears whirred. Wires glowed.

"That's amazing!" Rachel said.

"That's weird." Percy said.

"You found a way to transfer your Soul into a machine?" Vitani asked.

"Something tells me, my dear, that you know how to do it as well." Quintus said.

"Yes." Vitani whispered. Luke wrapped an arm around his wife ans stared hard at the inventor.

"That's…not natural." Annabeth said.

"Oh, I assure you, my dear, it's still me. I'm still very much Daedalus. Our mother, Athena, makes sure I never forget that." He tugged back the collar of his shirt. At the base of his neck was a dark shape of a bird grafted to his skin.

"A murderer's brand." Annabeth said.

"For your nephew, Perdix." Percy guessed. "The boy you pushed off the tower."

Quintus' face darkened. "I did not push him. I simply—"

"Made him lose his balance." Percy said. "Let him die."

Quintus gazed out the windows at the purple mountains. "I regret what I did, Percy. I was angry and bitter. But I cannot take it back, and Athena never lets me forget. As Perdix died, she turned him into a small bird—a partridge. She branded the bird's shape on my neck as a reminder. No matter what body I take, the brand appears on my skin."

His face might be totally different, but the same soul was in there— the same intelligence and all the sadness.

"You really are Daedalus." Percy decided. "But why did you come to the camp? Why spy on us?"

"To see if your camp was worth saving. Ethan had given me one story. I preferred to come to my own conclusions."

"Smart choice." Vitani said.

"So you  _have_ talked to Ethan." Percy said.

"Oh, yes. Several times. He is quite persuasive." Quintus said.

"But now you've seen the camp!" Annabeth persisted. "So you know we need your help. You can't let Ethan through the maze!"

Daedalus set his sword on the workbench. "The maze is no longer mine to control, Annabeth. I created it, yes. In fact, it is tied to my life force. But I have allowed it to live and grow on its own. That is the price I paid for privacy."

"Privacy from what?"

"The gods," he said. "And death. I have been alive for two millennia, my dear, hiding from death."

"But how can you hide from Hades?" Percy asked. "I mean…Hades has the Furies."

"They do not know everything," he said. "Or see everything. You have encountered them, Percy. You know this is true. A clever man can hide quite a long time, and I have buried myself very deep. Only my greatest enemy has kept after me, and even him I have thwarted."

"You mean Minos." Luke said.

Daedalus nodded. "He hunts for me relentlessly. Now that he is a judge of the dead, he would like nothing better than for me to come before him so he can punish me for my crimes. After the daughters of Cocalus killed him, Minos's ghost began torturing me in my dreams. He promised that he would hunt me down. I did the only thing I could. I retreated from the world completely. I descended into my Labyrinth. I decided this would be my ultimate accomplishment: I would cheat death."

"And you did," Annabeth marvelled, "for two thousand years." She sounded kind of impressed, despite the horrible things Daedalus had done.

"A demigod is not meant to live for that long. Your time has long past." Vitani said.

Just then a loud bark echoed from the corridor. Mrs. O'Leary bounded into the workshop. She licked Percy's face once, then almost knocked Daedalus over with an enthusiastic leap.

"There is my old friend!" Daedalus said, scratching Mrs. O'Leary behind the ears. "My only companion all these long lonely years."

"You let her save me." Percy said. "That whistle actually worked."

Daedalus nodded. "Of course it did, Percy. You have a good heart. And I knew Mrs. O'Leary liked you. I wanted to help you. Perhaps I—I felt guilty, as well."

"Guilty about what?"

"That your quest would be in vain."

"What?" Annabeth said. "But you can still help us. You have to! Give us Ariadne's string so Ethan can't get it."

"Yes … the string. I told Ethan that the eyes of a clear-sighted mortal are the best guide, but he did not trust me. He was so focused on the idea of a magic item. And the string works. It's not as accurate as your mortal friend here, perhaps. But good enough. Good enough."

"Where is it?" Annabeth said.

"With Ethan." Daedalus said sadly. "I'm sorry, my dear. But you are several hours too late."

Percy then realized that Ethan had the string all along, which was why he was in such a good mood at the Arena. His only obstacle was Antaeus, which Percy himself had gotten rid of.

"Kronos promised me freedom." Quintus said. "Once Hades is overthrown, he will set me over the Underworld. I will reclaim my son Icarus. I will make things right with poor young Perdix. I will see Minos's soul cast into Tartarus, where it cannot bother me again. And I will no longer have to run from death."

"Kronos will just back stab you, now that he has what he wants, there is no reason to uphold his end of the deal." Luke said.

"That's your brilliant idea?" Annabeth yelled. "You're going to let Ethan destroy your camp, kill hundreds of demigods, and then attack Olympus? You're going to bring down the entire world so you can get what you want?"

"Your cause is doomed, my dear. I saw that as soon as I began to work at your camp. There is no way you can hold back the might of Kronos."

"That's not true!" she cried.

"I am doing what I must, my dear. The offer was too sweet to refuse. I'm sorry."

Luke clenched his fists while Vitani glared.

Annabeth pushed over an easel. Architectural drawing scattered across the floor. "I used to respect you. You were my hero! You—you built amazing things. You solved problems. Now…I don't know what you are. Children of Athena are supposed to be  _wise_ , not just clever. Maybe you  _are_ just a machine. You should have died two thousand years ago."

Instead of getting mad, Daedalus hung his head. "You should go warn your camp. Now that Ethan has the string—"

Suddenly Mrs. O'Leary pricked up her ears.

"Someone's coming!" Rachel warned.

The doors of the workshop burst open, and Nico was pushed inside, his hands in chains.

Then Kelli and two Laistrygonians marched in behind him, followed by the ghost of Minos. He looked almost solid now—a pale bearded king with cold eyes and tendrils of Mist coiling off his robes.

He fixed his gaze on Daedalus. "There you are, my old friend."

Daedalus's jaw clenched. He looked at Kelli. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Ethan sends his compliments." Kelli said. "He thought you might like to see your old employer Minos."

"This was not part of our agreement." Daedalus said.

"No indeed," Kelli said. "But we already have what we want from you, and we have other agreements to honor. Minos required something else from us, in order to turn over this fine young demigod." She ran a finger under Nico's chin.

"He'll be quite useful. And all Minos asked in return was your head, old man."

Daedalus paled. "Treachery."

"Told you." Luke scoffed.

"Get used to it." Kelli said.

"Nico," Percy said. "Are you okay?"

He nodded morosely. "I—I'm sorry, Percy. Minos told me you were in danger. He convinced me to go back into the maze."

"You were trying to  _help_ us?"

"I was tricked." he said. "He tricked all of us."

Vitani glared at Kelli. "Where's Ethan? Why isn't he here?"

The she-demon smiled like we were sharing a private joke. "Ethan is … busy. He is preparing for the assault. But don't worry. We have more friends on the way. And in the meantime, I think I'll have a wonderful snack!" Her hands changed into claws. Her hair burst into flame and her legs turned to their true form—one donkey leg, one bronze.

"Percy," Rachel whispered, "the wings. Do you think—"

"No time for the wings!" Vitani said before she shot a severing curse at the monsters, cutting off their limbs and turning them to gold dust.

She then blasted Kelli back and lopped off her head with another curse, freeing Nico when Vitani cut the chains. But they heard more monsters coming.

"Jump." Vitani said.

"What?!" Everyone shouted.

"Jump now!" Vitani ordered. "Trust me! Just jump! Don't make me push you out that window!"

Everyone looked at Vitani like she was crazy before Percy did the honours, he jumped out the window.

"AHHHH!" Percy screamed.

Annabeth, Rachel, and Nico were then shoved out the window since they wouldn't budge. They all screamed in fear.

Vitani then pulled out her broom and flew out the window with Luke hot on her heels.

Vitani swooped down and took out a card. "Fly!"

A large white long necked bird flew out of the card and caught the falling teens onto its back.

The four of them hyperventilated, sighing in great relief when they flew gently in the air and were no longer falling to their death.

"You pushed us out the window!" Nico shouted.

"I told you that I would if you didn't jump." Vitani shrugged.

"What if you didn't catch us?" Annabeth demanded.

"Relax. That was a 500 foot drop, I had at least 5-6 seconds before you guys became pancakes." Vitani said.

"5-6 seconds?!" Rachel screeched.

"I caught you in about 3 seconds. You guys were fine." Vitani said.

"C'mon guys, lighten up a bit. Enjoy the ride." Luke smirked as he landed on the giant bird, his shoe wings disappeared.

"I can't! I'm not supposed to be flying!" Percy said, panicked.

"Oh right, Zeus, we'll have to land then." Vitani said.

 


	36. Chapter 36

The group landed on the terrace of a visitor centre. It was late afternoon and they counted themselves lucky that the place was pretty much empty.

Annabeth used a tourist binocular camera and looked up at the hill where Daedalus' workshop had been, but it vanished.

"The workshop moved." Annabeth guessed. "There's no telling where."

"What do we do now?" Percy asked. "How do we get back into the maze?"

Annabeth gazed at the summit of Pikes Peak in the distance. "Maybe we can't. If Daedalus died…he said his life force was tied into the Labyrinth. The whole thing might've been destroyed. Maybe that will stop Ethan's invasion."

"No." Nico said. "He isn't dead."

"How can you be sure?" Luke asked.

"I  _know_ when people die. It's this feeling I get, like a buzzing in my ears."

"What about Tyson and Grover then?" Percy asked.

Nico shook his head. "That's harder. They're not humans or half-bloods. They don't have mortal souls."

"Vitani, can you teleport us to the camp? We have to make it back to camp before Ethan and his army." Annabeth said.

"But we can't leave Tyson and Grover behind!" Percy protested. "They're still in there, we have to find them!"

Annabeth hesitated before sighing. "You're right. Fine, we have to get a car to take us into the city."

"I'll take care of it." Vitani said, and Rachel looked relieved.

* * *

The group hailed a taxi to a Ford car store.

As soon as the manager of the store saw her golden credit card, there were no complaints. She then manipulated the mist to make it look like there was a licence plate, even though there wasn't one. As the daughter of the goddess who created the mist, it was no wonder she was able to manipulate it so easily.

It didn't take longer than 10 minutes before they were driving away with a red caravan.

Everyone helped Rachel in trying to find an entrance. Right when they were leaving Colorado springs, Rachel sat bolt upright.

"Get off the highway!" Rachel said.

Vitani swerved across the traffic and took the exit.

"What did you see?" Percy asked, because they were pretty much out of the city now. There wasn't anything around except hills, grassland, and some scattered farm buildings. Rachel had the driver turn down this unpromising dirt road.

"Western Museum of Mining & Industry."

Vitani parked and they all got out of the van.

"There." Rachel said, pointing to a hole in the side of a nearby hill—a tunnel that was boarded up and chained. "An old mine entrance."

"A door to the Labyrinth?" Annabeth asked. "How can you be sure?"

"Annabeth, why do you always have to question her?" Luke sighed.

Annabeth huffed.

"I just can see it, okay?" Rachel answered.

* * *

They were now back into the labyrinth.

The dirt tunnels turned to stone. They wound around and split off and basically tried to confuse them, but Rachel had no trouble guiding them. They told her they needed to get back to New York, and she hardly even paused when the tunnels offered a choice.

"Thanks for coming after us." Percy told him at last.

Nico's eyes narrowed. He didn't seem as angry as he used to—just suspicious, careful. "I owed you for the ranch, Percy. Plus … I wanted to see Daedalus for myself. Minos was right, in a way. Daedalus  _should_ die. Nobody should be able to avoid death that long. It's not natural."

"That's what you were after all along." Vitani said. "Trading Daedalus's soul for your sister's."

Nico walked for another fifty yards before answering. "It hasn't been easy, you know. Having only the dead for company. Knowing that I'll never be accepted by the living. Only the dead respect me, and they only do that out of fear."

"You could be accepted." Percy said. "You could have friends at camp."

He stared at him. "Do you really believe that, Percy?"

Percy didn't answer.

Nico had always been a little different, but since Bianca's death, he'd gotten almost…scary. He had his father's eyes—that intense, manic fire that made you suspect he was either a genius or a madman.

Before Percy could figure out what to tell him, he ran into Rachel, who'd stopped in front of him. They'd come to a crossroad. The tunnel continued straight ahead, but a side tunnel led off to the right—a circular shaft carved from volcanic rock.

"What is it?" Luke asked.

Rachel stared down the dark tunnel. In the dim flashlight beam, her face looked like one of Nico's spectres.

"Is it that way?" Annabeth asked.

"No." Rachel said nervously. "Not at all."

"Why are we stopping then?" Percy asked.

"Eucalyptus trees." Vitani said. "Like in California."

"There's something evil down that tunnel." Rachel said. "Something very powerful."

"And the smell of death." Nico added.

Everyone except Nico and Rachel exchanged glances.

"Ethan's entrance." Annabeth guessed. "The one to Mount Othrys—the Titans' palace."

"I have to check it out." Percy said.

"Percy, no."

"Ethan could be right here." Percy said. "Or…or Kronos. I have to find out what's going on."

Annabeth hesitated. "Then we'll all go."

"No." Percy said. "It's too dangerous. If they got hold of Nico, or Rachel for that matter, Kronos could use them. You stay here and guard them."

"Percy, don't." Rachel said. "Don't go up there alone."

"I'll be quick." Percy promised. "I won't do anything stupid."

"I'll even go with him." Luke offered.

Annabeth took her Yankees cap out of her pocket. "At least take this. And be careful."

"Thanks." Percy said.

Vitani frowned slightly, but tapped her husband's arm and turned him invisible.

"Here goes nothing." Percy said, putting on the cap.

"Wish us luck." Luke said.

* * *

"They're taking too long." Annabeth said nervously.

"We should go check on them." Rachel agreed.

"But-" Nico said, glancing down the hall nervously.

"We're checking on them." Vitani said with a promise of pain in her voice of she wasn't obeyed, making Nico back down in fright.

The group of four ran down the corridor where Luke and Percy headed, that was where they saw Percy being slashed at by Ethan.

They could tell that Ethan was also fighting an invisible enemy, but there was something wrong. Ethan's eyes were golden, not the dark brown they used to be.

"Expelliarmus!" Vitani said, shooting her signature spell at Ethan, it blasted him off his feet and also sent his scythe flying.

"Luke! Percy!" Annabeth called. "Let's go!"

Percy scrambled towards his friends and everyone assumed that Luke was doing the same.

Ethan growled in anger as he got up, picked up his scythe, and ran after them.

"No!" Nico yelled. He clapped his hands together, and a jagged spire of rock the size of an eighteen-wheeler erupted from the ground right in front of the fortress. The tremor it caused was so powerful the front columns of the building came crashing down. Muffled screams from the telekhines inside were heard. Dust billowed everywhere.

They plunged into the Labyrinth and kept running, the howl of the Titan lord shaking the entire world behind them.

"Vitani was right!" Percy said as they ran.

"What?" Annabeth asked.

"Kronos is possessing Ethan!" Luke answered.

" _Di immortalis!_ That is not good!" Annabeth panicked.

* * *

They group kept running until they were exhausted. Rachel steered them away from traps, but they had no destination in mind. They only wanted to get away from Kronos.

"I can't go any further." Rachel gasped.

All of them fell to the floor in exhaustion and Vitani passed around Vitamix potions and canteens of water, which they all took gratefully.

"That sucked." Nico said once he caught his breath.

"You saved our lives." Luke said.

Nico wiped the dust off his face. "Blame the girls for dragging me along. That's the only thing they could agree on. We needed to help you two or you'd mess things up."

"Thank you, love." Luke said, kissing Vitani's cheek.

"Nico... you, uh, kind of gave yourself away." Percy said.

"What do you mean?"

"That wall of black stone? That was pretty impressive. If Kronos didn't know who you were before, he does now—a child of the Underworld."

Nico frowned. "Big deal."

Percy let the matter drop.

"We have to keep moving." Nico said. "He'll send monsters after us."

"Hey, look at this." Vitani said, picking up something. "It's Grover's cap. The one he always wears."

"Look, their prints lead that way." Luke said, looking down at the large footprints that most likely belonged to Tyson and the smaller goat hooves prints leading off to the left.

"We have to follow them." Percy said.

"These prints are recent." Luke said.

"What about Camp Half-Blood?" Nico said. "There's no time."

"We have to find them, they're our friends!" Annabeth insisted. "Remember, this was the reason we even came back into the Labyrinth instead of just teleporting back to camp."

Annabeth then took the cap from Vitani's hands and forged ahead.

The tunnel was treacherous. It sloped at weird angles and was slimy with moisture. Half the time they were slipping and sliding rather than walking.

Soon they finally got to the bottom of the slope and found themselves in a large cave with huge stalagmites columns. Through the centre of the room ran an underground river, and Tyson was sitting by the banks, cradling Grover in his lap. Grover's eyes were closed and he wasn't moving.

"Tyson!" Percy yelled.

"Percy! Come quick!"

They ran over to him. Grover wasn't dead, thank the gods, but his whole body trembled like he was freezing to death. Vitani immediately knelt to his side and checked him over.

"What happened?" Luke asked.

"So many things." Tyson murmured. "Large snake. Large dogs. Men with swords. But then…we got close to here. Grover was excited. He ran. Then we reached this room, and he fell. Like this."

"Did he say anything?" Vitani asked.

"He said, 'We're close.' Then hit his head on rocks."

Percy shined his flashlight around the cavern. The rocks glittered. At the far end was the entrance to another cave, flanked by gigantic columns of crystal that looked like diamonds. And beyond that entrance…

"Grover." Vitani said. "Wake up."

"Uhhhhhhhh."

Annabeth knelt next to him and splashed icy cold river water in his face.

"Splurg!" His eyelids fluttered. "Percy? Annabeth? Luke? Vitani? Where…"

"It's okay." Percy said. "You passed out. The presence was too much for you."

"I—I remember. Pan."

"Yeah." Vitani said. "Something powerful is just beyond that doorway."

Percy made quick introductions, since Tyson and Grover had never met Rachel.

Tyson told Rachel she was pretty, which made Annabeth's nostrils flare like she was going to blow fire.

"Anyway." Percy said. "Come on, Grover. Lean on me."

Annabeth and Percy helped him up, and together they waded across the underground river. The current was strong. The water came up to their waists.

The water was extremely cold, so Vitani cast warming charms.

"I think we're in Carlsbad Caverns." Annabeth said. "Maybe an unexplored section."

"How do you know?" Luke asked.

"Carlsbad is in New Mexico." she said. "That would explain last winter."

Percy nodded. Grover's swooning episode had happened when they had passed through New Mexico. That's where he'd felt closest to the power of Pan.

When they got out of the water, Vitani handed everyone pepper up potions, and they kept walking. As the crystal pillars loomed larger, they started to feel the power emanating from the next room. Their skin tingled with living energy. Energy filled their bodies as they got closer. And the scent coming from the cave was nothing like the dank wet underground. It smelled of trees and flowers and a warm summer day.

Grover whimpered with excitement.

Rachel said, "Oh, wow."

The walls glittered with crystals—red, green, and blue. In the strange light, beautiful plants grew—giant orchids, star-shaped flowers, vines bursting with orange and purple berries that crept among the crystals. The cave floor was covered with green moss. Overhead, the ceiling was higher than a cathedral, sparkling like a galaxy of stars. In the centre of the cave stood a Roman-style bed, gilded wood shaped like a curly U, with velvet cushions.

Animals lounged around it—but they were animals that shouldn't have been alive. There was a dodo bird, something that looked like a cross between a wolf and a tiger, a huge rodent like the mother of all guinea pigs, and roaming behind the bed, picking berries with its trunk, was a woolly mammoth.

On the bed lay an old satyr. He watched them as they approached, his eyes as blue as the sky. His curly hair was white and so was his pointed beard. Even the goat fur on his legs was frosted with grey. His horns were enormous— glossy brown and curved. There was no way he could've hidden those under a hat the way Grover did. Around his neck hung a set of reed pipes.

Grover fell to his knees in front of the bed. "Lord Pan!"

The god smiled kindly, but there was sadness in his eyes. "Grover, my dear, brave satyr. I have waited a very long time for you."

"I…got lost." Grover apologized.

Pan laughed. It was a wonderful sound, like the first breeze of springtime, filling the whole cavern with hope. The tiger-wolf sighed and rested his head on the god's knee. The dodo bird pecked affectionately at the god's hooves, making a strange sound in the back of its bill. It was humming what suspiciously sounded like 'It's a small world'.

Still, Pan looked tired. His whole form shimmered as if he were made of Mist.

Vitani knelt, and everyone followed her lead. Pan was one of the few gods that Vitani and Luke truly respected. One of the few who deserved to be a god, who didn't abuse their power as one. Hestia was another god they truly respected.

"You have a humming dodo bird." Percy said stupidly.

Luke, Annabeth, and Vitani facepalmed. But Pan didn't look angry at all, he just kept smiling that kind smile.

The god's eyes twinkled. "Yes, that's Dede. My little actress."

Dede the dodo looked offended. She pecked at Pan's knee and hummed something that sounded like a funeral dirge.

"This is the most beautiful place!" Annabeth said. "It's better than any building ever designed."

"The crystals are so full of magic." Vitani said with awe.

"I am glad you like it, dears." Pan said. "It is one of the last wild places. My realm above is gone, I'm afraid. Only pockets remain. Tiny pieces of life. This one shall stay undisturbed … for a little longer."

"My lord," Grover said, "please, you must come back with me! The Elders will never believe it! They'll be overjoyed! You can save the wild!"

Pan placed his hand on Grover's head and ruffled his curly hair. "You are so young, Grover. So good and true. I think I chose well."

"Chose?" Grover said. "I—I don't understand."

Pan's image flickered, momentarily turning to smoke. The giant guinea pig scuttled under the bed with a terrified squeal. The woolly mammoth grunted nervously. Dede stuck her head under her wing. Then Pan re-formed.

Luke and Vitani frowned, Pan was fading. One of the greatest gods was fading.

"I have slept many eons." The god said forlornly. "My dreams have been dark. I wake fitfully, and each time my waking is shorter. Now we are near the end."

"What?" Grover cried. "But no! You're right here!"

"My dear satyr." Pan said. "I tried to tell the world, two thousand years ago. I announced it to Lysas, a satyr very much like you. He lived in Ephesos, and he tried to spread the word."

Annabeth's eyes widened. "The old story. A sailor passing by the coast of Ephesos heard a voice crying from the shore, 'Tell them the great god Pan is dead.'"

"But that wasn't true!" Grover said.

"Your kind never believed it." Pan said. "You sweet, stubborn satyrs refused to accept my passing. And I love you for that, but you only delayed the inevitable. You only prolonged my long, painful passing, my dark twilight sleep. It must end."

"No!" Grover's voice trembled.

"Dear Grover." Pan said. "You must accept the truth. Your companion, Nico, he understands."

Nico nodded slowly. "He's dying. He should have died long ago. This…this is more like a memory."

"A memory..." Vitani whispered, clearly remembering Tom Riddle's diary.

"But gods can't die." Grover said.

"They can fade," Pan said, "when everything they stood for is gone. When they cease to have power, and their sacred places disappear. The wild, my dear Grover, is so small now, so shattered, that no god can save it. My realm is gone. That is why I need you to carry a message. You must go back to the council. You must tell the satyrs, and the dryads, and the other spirits of nature, that the great god Pan  _is_ dead."

"All life must come to an end. If there is a beginning, there is an end. That is the circle of life." Vitani said.

Pan nodded. "You are wise for one so young."

He then turned back to Grover.

"Tell them of my passing. Because they must stop waiting for me to save them. I cannot. The only salvation you must make yourself. Each of you must—"

He stopped and frowned at the dodo bird, who had started humming again.

"Dede, what are you doing?" Pan demanded. "Are you singing  _Kumbaya_ again?"

Dede looked up innocently and blinked her yellow eyes.

Pan sighed. "Everybody's a cynic. But as I was saying, my dear Grover, each of you must take up my calling."

"But…no!" Grover whimpered.

"Be strong." Pan said. "You have found me. And now you must release me. You must carry on my spirit. It can no longer be carried by a god. It must be taken up by all of you."

Pan looked straight at the kneeling group. He meant half-bloods, too, and humans.

Everyone.

"Percy Jackson and Luke Castellan." the god said. "I know what you have seen today. I know your doubts. But I give you this news: when the time comes, you will not be ruled by fear."

He turned to Annabeth. "Daughter of Athena, your time is coming. You will play a great role, though it may not be the role you imagined."

Then he looked at Tyson. "Master Cyclops, do not despair. Heroes rarely live up to our expectations. But you, Tyson—your name shall live among the Cyclopes for generations."

He turned to Vitani. "Daughter of Hecate, you too will play a great role. You will find yourself truly taking up your mantle as the Master of the Deathly Hallows. And Miss Rachel Dare…"

Rachel flinched when he said her name. She backed up like she was guilty of something, but Pan only smiled. He raised his hand in a blessing.

"I know you believe you cannot make amends," he said. "But you are just as important as your father."

"I—" Rachel faltered. A tear traced her cheek.

"I know you don't believe this now," Pan said. "But look for opportunities. They will come."

Finally he turned back toward Grover. "My dear satyr," Pan said kindly, "will you carry my message?"

"I—I can't."

"You can." Pan said. "You are the strongest and the bravest. Your heart is true. You have believed in me more than anyone ever has, which is why you must bring the message, and why you must be the first to release me."

"I don't want to."

"I know," the god said. "But my name,  _Pan_ …originally it meant  _rustic_. Did you know that? But over the years it has come to mean  _all_. The spirit of the wild must pass to all of you now. You must tell each one you meet: if you would find Pan, take up Pan's spirit. Remake the wild, a little at a time, each in your own corner of the world. You cannot wait for anyone else, even a god, to do that for you."

Grover wiped his eyes. Then slowly he stood. "I've spent my whole life looking for you. Now…I release you."

Pan smiled. "Thank you, dear satyr. My final blessing."

He closed his eyes, and the god dissolved. White mist divided into wisps of energy. It filled the room. A curl of smoke went straight into everyone's mouth.

But little more of it went into Grover. The crystals dimmed. The animals gave them a sad look. Dede the dodo sighed. Then they all turned grey and crumbled to dust. The vines withered. And they were alone in a dark cave, with an empty bed.

Percy switched on his flashlight.

Grover took a deep breath.

"Are…are you okay?" Vitani asked.

He looked older and sadder. He took his cap from Annabeth, brushed off the mud, and stuck it firmly on his curly head.

"We should go now," he said, "and tell them. The great god Pan is dead."


	37. Chapter 37

 

Soon, thanks to Rachel, everyone was back in times square.

 

After saying their goodbyes and thank yous to the redhead, they all ran towards an abandoned alleyway.

 

Vitani picked up a metal pipe from the ground and tapped it with her wand.

 

"There, it'll take us back to camp now." Vitani said.

 

"Uh, what does teleporting feel like?" Percy asked nervously.

 

"Just hold on." Vitani grinned. "Everyone, touch the pipe please."

 

They all did as told before they were whisked away.

 

They flew through a swirling smoking rainbow tunnel.

 

"AHHH!" Annabeth screamed.

 

"Let go!" Vitani commanded.

 

"Are you crazy?!" Percy shouted.

 

"Nope! Let go now!" Vitani said, grabbing Luke's hand before letting go. The two of them then flew off into the smoke.

 

"I think we should let go!" Nice said before letting go himself.

 

Annabeth and Percy looked at each other before letting go.

 

The three screamed as they flipped and turned in the wind before landing harshly on the ground.

 

"Ow! I think I broke my butt!" Nico whined

 

"Oh...my back." Percy groaned.

 

"My side..." Annabeth moaned.

 

"Where's Vitani and Luke?" Nico asked.

 

"Here!" Vitani said as she floated down gently with Luke.

 

"How'd you do that?" Annabeth demanded.

 

"Practice." Vitani smiled.

 

"C'mon, let's go." Luke said.

 

* * *

 

The group then walked to camp, where they were met with Chiron, the pot bellied Silenus, and a couple of Apollo cabin archers.

 

Chiron raised a brow when he saw Nico, but said nothing until Percy explained that Quintus was Daedalus and Kronos' rising.

 

"I feared as much." Chiron said. "We must hurry. Hopefully you have slowed down the Titan lord, but his vanguard will still be coming through. They will be anxious for blood. Most of our defenders are already in place. Come!"

 

"Wait a moment." Silenus demanded. "What of the search for Pan? You are almost three weeks overdue, Grover Underwood! Your searcher's license is revoked!"

 

Grover took a deep breath. He stood up straight and looked Silenus in the eye. "Searcher's licenses don't matter any more. The great god Pan is dead. He has passed on and left us his spirit."

 

" _What?"_ Silenus's face turned bright red. "Sacrilege and lies! Grover Underwood, I will have you exiled for speaking thus!"

 

"It's true." Percy said. "We were there when he died. All of us."

 

"Impossible! You are all liars! Nature-destroyers!"

 

Chiron studied Grover's face. "We will speak of this later."

 

"We will speak of it now!" Silenus said. "We must deal with this—"

 

"Silenus." Chiron cut in. "My camp is under attack. The matter of Pan has waited two thousand years. I fear it will have to wait a bit longer. Assuming we are still here this evening."

 

And on that happy note, he readied his bow and galloped toward the woods, leaving them to follow as best they could.

 

* * *

 

It was the biggest military operation they had ever seen at camp. Everyone was at the clearing, dressed in full battle armour, but this time it wasn't for capture the flag. The Hephaestus cabin had set up traps around the entrance to the Labyrinth—razor wire, pits filled with pots of Greek fire, rows of sharpened sticks to deflect a charge. Beckendorf was manning two catapults the size of pickup trucks, already primed and aimed at Zeus's Fist. The Ares cabin was on the front line, drilling in phalanx formation with Clarisse calling orders. Apollo's and Hermes's cabins were scattered in the woods with bows ready.

 

Many had taken up positions in the trees. Even the dryads were armed with bows, and the satyrs trotted around with wooden cudgels and shields made of rough tree bark.

 

Annabeth went to join her brethren from the Athena cabin, who had set up a command tent and were directing operations. A grey banner with an owl fluttered outside the tent. Their security chief, Argus, stood guard at the door.

 

Aphrodite's children were running around straightening everybody's armour and offering to comb the tangles out of their horsehair plumes.

 

Even Dionysus's kids had found something to do. The god himself was still nowhere to be seen, but his two blond twin sons were running around providing all the sweaty warriors with water bottles and juice boxes.

 

It looked like a pretty good setup, but Chiron muttered next to Percy. "It isn't enough."

 

Chiron was right, but it was all they could muster.

 

Apparently, the Titans didn't believe in restrictions like that.

 

Over at the edge of the clearing, Grover was talking to Juniper. She held his hands while he told her our story. Green tears formed in her eyes as he delivered the news about Pan.

 

Tyson helped the Hephaestus kids prepare the defences. He picked up boulders and piled them next to the catapults for firing.

 

"Stay with me, Percy." Chiron said. "When the fighting begins, I want you to wait until we know what we're dealing with. You must go where we most need reinforcements. Vitani and Luke as well. You three are our best fighters."

 

"We saw Kronos." Luke said, still stunned by the fact. "I looked straight into his eyes. It was Ethan…but it wasn't."

 

Chiron ran his fingers along his bowstring. "He had golden eyes, I would guess. And in his presence, time seemed to turn to liquid."

 

Percy nodded. "Vitani was right, but how could he take over a mortal body?"

 

"I do not know, Percy. Gods have assumed the shapes of mortals for ages, but to actually become one … to merge the divine form with the mortal. I don't know how this could be done without Ethan's form turning into ashes."

 

"Kronos said his body had been prepared."

 

"I shudder to think what that means. But perhaps it will limit Kronos' power. For a time, at least, he is confined to a human form. It binds him together. Hopefully it also restricts him."

 

"Chiron, if he leads the attack—"

 

"I do not think so, my boy. I would sense if he were drawing near. No doubt he planned to, but I believe you inconvenienced him when you pulled down his throne room on top of him." He looked at Percy reproachfully. "You and your friend Nico, son of Hades."

 

A lump formed in Percy's throat. "I'm sorry, Chiron. I know I should've told you. It's just—"

 

Chiron raised his hand. "I understand why you did it, Percy. You felt responsible. You sought to protect him. But, my boy, if we are to survive this war, we must trust each other. We must…"

 

His voice wavered. The ground underneath us was trembling.

 

Everyone in the clearing stopped what they were doing. Clarisse barked a single order: "Lock shields!"

 

Then the Titan lord's army exploded from the Labyrinth and ran into Vitani's barrier.

 

The monsters growled but didn't give up like many campers had hoped. They pounded and attacked the barrier with all their might, and steadily, cracks began to form.

 

It wasn't long until the barrier shattered and the army came pouring through.

 

It was a full-scale battle. There were a dozen Laistrygonian giants erupting from the ground, roaring loudly. They carried shields made from flattened cars, and clubs that were tree trunks with rusty spikes bristling at the end. One of the giants bellowed at the Ares phalanx, smashed it sideways with his club, and the entire cabin was thrown aside, a dozen warriors tossed to the wind like rag dolls.

 

"Fire!" Beckendorf yelled.

 

The catapults swung into action. Two boulders hurtled toward the giants. One deflected off a car shield with hardly a dent, but the other caught a Laistrygonian in the chest, and the giant went down.

 

Apollo's archers fired a volley, dozens of arrows sticking in the thick armour of the giants like porcupine quills. Several found chinks in armour, and some of the giants vaporized at the touch of celestial bronze.

 

But just when it looked like the Laistrygonians were about to get overwhelmed, the next wave surged out of the maze: thirty, maybe forty dracaenae in full battle armour, wielding spears and nets. They dispersed in all directions. Some hit the traps the Hephaestus cabin had laid.

 

One got struck on the spikes and became an easy target for archers. Another triggered a trip wire, and pots of Greek fire exploded into green flames, engulfing several of the snake women. But many more kept coming. Argus and Athena's warriors rushed forward to meet them. Annabeth drew a sword and engage one of them. Nearby, Tyson was riding a giant. Somehow he'd managed to climb onto the giant's back and was hitting him on the head with a bronze shield— _BONG! BONG! BONG!_

 

Chiron calmly aimed arrow after arrow, taking down a monster with every shot. But more enemies just kept climbing out of the maze. Finally a hellhound—not Mrs. O'Leary—leaped out of the tunnel and barrelled straight toward the satyrs.

 

Nico then summoned a bunch of skeleton warriors from the ground before attacking the dracaenae.

 

"This won't be enough. Go you three!" Chiron commanded.

 

The two nodded and charged into battle.

 

"Vitani? What are you doing?" Chiron asked out of the corner of his eye.

 

Vitani waved her wand and muttered a long incantation. A series of symbols and runes appeared on the ground, glowing in a circle.

 

Vitani then summoned the magic crystals from her cabin, and they all flew out towards her before setting themselves onto the ground on certain symbols. Each crystal was about the size of an apple.

 

"I'm backing them up, Chiron. In the best way I can." Vitani said, sitting down in the middle of the circle before a bunch of Clow cards appeared before her.

 

A familiar orange shield covered Vitani in a dome-like fashion.

 

The crystals then glowed before the cards all shot off in different directions except one who stayed with Chiron.

 

The Arrow stood beside the centaur and shot off magical arrows with perfect accuracy.

 

* * *

 

The Firey flew towards the Hephaestus sons as burned anything that came near them.

 

"That's Vitani's fire spirit! She's backing us up!" Beckendorf shouted out.

 

His brothers roared in approval as they continued to attack.

 

* * *

 

The Power flew towards the Ares campers and stopped in front of Clarisse.

 

"What? One of Vitani's spirits?" Clarisse said before the Power glowed and a piece shot into Ares son and daughter.

 

"Huh? I feel really strong all of a sudden." An Ares son said.

 

Clarisse experimentally tried to pick up a large boulder nearby, and to her surprise, she lifted it with ease.

 

"Vitani gave us super strength! CHARGE!" She roared before throwing the boulder, which crashed into a large hellhound, killing it.

 

The Ares cabin bellowed out a war cry before charging in, smashing and destroying everything in their way.

 

* * *

 

The Wood flew to the twin sons of Dionysus.

 

"What? What is that?" Castor asked.

 

The Wood just smile at them before trapping the nearby monsters in wooden vines, allowing the twins with kill them with ease.

 

"It's helping us!" Pollux said before the twins charged into battle again. The Wood restrained the monsters for the twins to destroy and protected them.

 

* * *

 

The Shot went over to the Apollo cabin and some of the Hermes cabin.

 

"That's one of Vitani's spirits!" Lee Fletcher said.

 

The Shot glowed before disappearing, then all of the archers' bows turned metal bows.

 

"What?" Michael Yew asked, he pulled back the string to test it, but yelped in surprise when a beam of energy appeared. Experimentally, he shot the beam towards an enemy, and it burned right through the monster, killing it. "Laser arrows! SWEET!"

 

The archers cheered before letting loose volleys of laser arrows.

 

* * *

 

The Sword and the Fight shot towards Annabeth and appeared beside her, defending her back.

 

"Thanks Vitani!"

 

* * *

 

The Earthy shot towards the rest of the Athena campers, defending them and trapping any monster nearby by their feet.

 

"Don't attack it! That's Vitani's spirit!" Malcolm shouted before the rest of them continued to attack with the help of Earthy.

 

* * *

 

The Windy flew gently over to Luke and floated all the monsters near him in the air.

 

"Thanks, Windy!" Luke said, wiping sweat off his brow before attacking the monsters.

 

Windy smiled at him, protecting him as Vitani intended.

 

* * *

 

The Watery flew to Percy and encased him in magic water that clung to him like a second skin.

 

"Thank you!" Percy said as new strength filled him.

 

* * *

 

The Shadow flew to Nico, who was still fighting off some dracaenae. The spirit took hold of the monsters' shadows and froze them in place, allowing them to be vanquished by Nico and his skeleton warriors.

 

"Thanks, Shadow guy!" Nico grinned.

 

* * *

 

The Sand flew towards the Satyrs and the Dryads, slowing down the monsters and allowing them to be killed.

 

"Thank you!" Grover said.

 

* * *

 

"Thank you, Vitani." Chiron said.

 

Vitani said nothing, her eyes were closed and her brow furrowed in concentration. Beads of sweat rolled down her face as she continued to power her Clow spirits. The magical crystals were glowing brightly around her.

 

"Oh no." Chiron breathed as Kampê emerged from the Labyrinth and fought with Annabeth, Luke, and Percy. He continued to shoot monsters with the help of Arrow.

 

He soon breathed a sigh of relief when Mrs. O'Leary and Briares, the hundred handed one, emerged from the labyrinth as well.

 

Briares defeated Kampê by burying her in boulders.

 

But the giants surged forwards in a last attempt, and then they heard the most horrifying sound came from Grover. It was like a brass trumpet magnified a thousand times—the sound of pure fear.

 

"Panic, Grover used Panic." Chiron breathed.

 

As one, the forces of Kronos dropped their weapons and ran for their lives.

 

The giants trampled the dracaenae trying to get into the Labyrinth first.

 

Telekhines and hellhounds and enemy half-bloods scrambled after them.

 

The tunnel rumbled shut, and the battle was over. The clearing was quiet except for the fires burning in the woods, and the cries of the wounded.

 

"Vitani!" Luke called as he ran over to his wife. "You can stop!"

 

The magic crystals then stopped glowing and all the Clow Spirits returned to their card form.

 

Vitani fell over in a dead faint.

 

"Vitani!" Luke scrambled to her side and held her in his arms. The witch was drenched in sweat and she was breathing heavily.

 

"I fear that summoning that many Clow Spirits at once and for such a long period has taken a great toll on Vitani. But without her help, many more would be wounded or dead." Chiron said. "Take her to the Big House."

 

Luke nodded an lifted Vitani into his arms gently and ran.

 

"You over did it." Luke sighed, but smiled fondly at his wife. "But you saved us, along with Grover."

 

* * *

 

There were many goodbyes that were made, but there would've been a lot more if not for Vitani and Grover.

 

Vitani was still sleeping, merely suffering from a case of magical exhaustion, and Luke never left her side unless it was to eat or shower.

 

Among the dead, Lee Fletcher from the Apollo cabin had been downed by a giant's club. He was wrapped in a golden shroud without any decoration.

 

Castor, son of Dionysus, nearly died but was saved by The Wood.

 

Michael Yew of the Apollo cabin lit the funeral pyre in the middle of the amphitheatre, and within seconds the row of shrouds was engulfed in fire, sending smoke and sparks up to the stars.

 

* * *

 

Vitani ended up sleeping for a whole week before she woke up.

 

"Luke?" She whispered.

 

Luke's head shot up from where he was resting from beside Vitani's sleeping form.

 

"Vitani! You worried me so much! Chiron and Mr. D said that you were just exhausted but-"

 

"I was just exhausted. Summoning that many Clow cards was no easy feet." Vitani said.

 

Luke helped her sit up before giving her some nectar and ambrosia.

 

After she was all better, with the help of Luke, she stood from the bed.

 

"Maybe you should rest a bit longer, Vitani, you just woke up." Luke said worriedly.

 

"No! I slept enough. I just need to use my body. It feels like jello." Vitani insisted.

 

"No, I'm going to put my foot down this time. You're staying in bed!" Luke said sternly. "You pushed yourself too far with your stunt. You need rest!"

 

Vitani blinked in surprise before softening. "Alright, alright."

 

"I'm going to get something for you to eat. When I get back, I expect you to be here. Understand?" Luke asked.

 

"Yes, dear husband." Vitani sighed and lied back down in bed.

 

"Good." Luke nodded, pleased.

 

* * *

 

It was only the next day that Luke and Chiron gave her the okay to leave the bed.

 

When Vitani arrived at the dining pavilion with Luke, everyone stood and cheered for her.

 

"Thank you, Vitani!"

 

"What you did was awesome!"

 

"Your spirit saved my life!"

 

"Super Strength was fun to have!"

 

Everyone cheered for her and Chiron awarded her with a golden laurel.

 

"Your Clow spirits had prevented many deaths, you deserve this." Chiron said, smiling proudly.

 

Even Mr. D was clapping for her, mainly because he had heard that one of his son's lives were spared because of Vitani's wood spirit she had sent to their aid.

 

Vitani grinned brightly.


End file.
